The Black Dragon and the White Phoenix
by ameyumechan
Summary: Two girls from our universe are pulled into YYH. They both have strange powers unseen in their worlds. But why is Sarah being so nice to Hiei he wonders. And what are they both hiding? KurXOC HieiXOC
1. Chapter 1

**Hey all. For those who are just beginning to read this story, please know that I'm in the process of rewriting and modifying it. I started (and wrote most of) this 3 years ago, and had a VERY long hiatus before coming back to it now. In rereading it, there were several places where I flinched at my own writing xD (I'm starting college this year and my writing style has changed quite a bit). The rewriting process should be done within the week...and a new, very long chapter will be added! After a year of waiting, a whole new chapter! FINALLY!**

**For those who started reading a long time ago, please reread it and see what you think! I made the relationships a bit less...er....flippant .'' And tried to make the main female characters more mature.**

**Enjoy! And please comment me!**

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Chapter 1

**"The Beginning"**

I, Sarah, an American 18-year-old, grabbed the bowl of popcorn and a six-pack of grape soda and headed back into my bedroom, where my roommate for college, Natalie, was eating a big chunk of chocolate cake.

"So wait, what is this again?" asked Natalie.

"Ugh, for the billionth time, it's called 'Yu Yu Hakusho' and it's been-"

"Your favorite show since you were eleven, I KNOW! All I was asking was what this was ABOUT."

"Oh. Well, watch and see. Oh, and thank you SO much for getting me the entire series on tape!"

"Hey, no problem, you've given me so much money and now that I'm performin' with pay I can finally afford to pay you back." Natalie was a singer at the college hangout and got a huge amount of tips every week night.

I 'aw'ed and hugged her. "But you know that once you've been best friends with a person since you were two, it doesn't really matter that much."

"Oh, shut up and put the movie on."

I laughed and obliged. As the theme music started, I started to get light-headed.

"Oh no. No, not NOW!" This couldn't happen, not with Natalie here. I mean, she knew about my situation but I hated it when other people were around.

"Oh no, are you having another one?" She knew exactly what was going on.

"Yeah," I whispered as my vision got blurry and I felt myself losing contact with this era.

-…_I was in … Koenma's office? … and Hiei was staring at us saying "Shut up baka onna" to Natalie , who was screaming and crying hysterically. Kurama, Yusuke, and Kuwabara were looking extremely uncomfortable…-_

My vision corrected itself and Natalie was shaking me violently, staring at me with sincere concern in her eyes. "Sarah, SARAH!" I moaned as the usual headache came on. "What happened?"

I looked around; the TV screen was showing Yusuke floating in the air talking to Botan. "I have no idea." Suddenly, a great pressure settled in the air, and I felt myself being tugged by invisible hands. Natalie was obviously feeling the same thing, because she started screaming and thrashing against her invisible attacker. I knew better. For some reason, I knew that there was no reason to panic.

"Natalie, it's OK." I said even though I knew that she couldn't hear me. Suddenly the world I knew disappeared. I blacked out.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

**Meeting the Team**

"HEELLLLLOOOOOOOOOOOO! WAKE UP!" I groaned and sat up, and realized that I was looking right at the face of…

Yusuke Urameshi. So I did the thing that any sane girl looking at the anime face of the famed Spirit Detective would do. I screamed… loud. And slapped him…hard.

"OW! What the heck was _that_ for!?"

"But you're…and I'm…and this is…and I'm in…and where…WHERE'S NATALIE!" I stuttered, finally getting my message across.

"Your friend is right here. She hasn't woken up yet." I looked around, trying to find the owner of that voice, finally seeing a baby Koenma standing by Natalie. But she looked different. She was…ANIME! I looked at my hands. I was anime, too!

"Oh…wow…ok then." I said slowly, my voice barely audible.

"Yes, you're in a different universe now. I understand that this is a bit of a shock to you but my advice is that you simply accept it." Koenma was now standing next to me. "This is not a dream or an illusion or anything else. It's real."

My mind finally caught up with reality…well, this reality anyway. I really _was _in the universe of Yu Yu Hakusho. "Oh boy." I then realized that I was still sitting down and moved to a standing position. My head ached horribly and I began massaging it and groaning.

"Here, this will help your headache," said a familiar voice. When I turned my head I was staring into emerald eyes, and none other than Shuichi Minamino aka Kurama was holding out a cup of foul-smelling liquid.

"Oh my g…you're Ku…ah man." My headache had just doubled. I accepted the cup from him with a "thanks" and downed its horrible-tasting contents without even a grimace. Immediately my headache eased up until I felt back to normal.

"Okay, um, does someone want to tell me what the hell is going on?"

Koenma nodded in Natalie's direction. "We should wait until your friend is awake to hear it." Meanwhile Kuwabara was shaking her and yelling in her ear. I sighed.

"Ughh. Kuwabara, get off of her and let me take care of it."

"How'd you know my name?" I ignored him and walked over to Natalie. I leaned in close to her ear and yelled-

"NATALIE HELP! YOUR EX-BOYFRIEND IS HITTING ON ME AGAIN!"

She immediately sat up and yelled "PETER, I'm gonna RIP YOUR FRICKIN' HANDS OFF-…..AAAAHHHHHH!" She had taken one look around and screamed bloody murder.

___________

A few minutes later, Natalie was staring wide-eyed at me. I had just told her what had happened and she was getting ready to burst. I could tell. I covered my ears and warned the others to do the same. Then the ear-splitting screeches began.

"Are you alright?" asked a sincerely concerned Kurama.

"ARE YOU KIDDING!? I'M IN A DIFFERENT UNIVERSE THAT ISN'T SUPPOSED TO EXIST, WE WERE JUST ABOUT TO START OUR FIRST YEAR AT COLLEGE, I HAVE ABSOLUTELY NO IDEA WHAT THE HECK IS GOING ON AND I'M FREAKING PMS-ING SO IT'S EVEN WORSE THAN IT WOULD USUALLY BE!"

"Okay, WAY too much information!" yelled Yusuke while Kuwabara gagged and Kurama sweat-dropped. Hiei, who I noticed for the first time, simply glared at Natalie and said "Shut up baka onna." Just like-

"My vision." I whispered.

Natalie immediately stopped screaming and said "What?" completely forgetting everything else.

"That's what I saw," I said so that only she could hear.

"What do you mean that's what you saw?" asked Hiei, scowling.

"Oh, right, you have super-hearing." He raised an eyebrow.

"It's nothing, Hiei," I said. His scowl deepened.

"How do you know our names?" asked Kurama.

"Because-" time for some quick thinking "-back in our universe, we have televisions like yours, and you and your adventures are a show on it. Apparently television shows are just a way to see into other dimensions like this one." I was lying through my teeth, but the more I thought about it, the more believable it seemed. Honestly, right now, I'd believe it if the Grinch came in and told me that my mother was the Tooth Fairy.

"So wait," said Yusuke hesitantly, "exactly how much do you know about us?"

"Pretty much everything."

"Tell us."

"Okay, we'll start with you. Yusuke Urameshi. Number one punk at Sarayashiki High. You died trying to save a little kid's life, but your death turned out to be pointless, since the kid wasn't going to get hurt anyway."

"Haha. You never told us that Urameshi," mocked Kuwabara.

"A lot of stuff happened while you were a ghost, but we don't really care about that. Point is you came back to life. You then - rather unwillingly - became a Spirit Detective and your first real case involved Hiei, Kurama, and a demon named Goki. But more about that later. You then became Genkai's student after solving the Rando case out of sheer luck."

"Hey! There was plenty of skill in that mission."

"Whatever. You specialize in hand-to-hand combat. Your favored ki weapons are the Spirit Gun and Spirit Shotgun. Your mother's name is Atsuko and is constantly drinking. Your girlfriend's name is Keiko Yukimura, who you've been friends with since childhood. You're extremely arrogant and dimwitted, and Master Genkai calls you her favorite dimwit."

"Hey! I resent that!"

"Do I look I care? Deal with it. Oh, and you're a half-demon and have something of a counterpart named Puu. That's about it for you."

I turned to Kuwabara. "Kazuma Kuwabara. Second toughest guy at Sarayashiki High next to Yusuke. Previously rivals but now best friends. You have an extraordinarily strong sixth sense and control of spirit energy, even though you're fully human. You're kind and loyal and trustworthy and will always fight to the finish."

"Gee, thanks." (Blush)

"You're also a total idiot."

"…Knew there had to be a catch." Yusuke was laughing his head off.

"Your favored weapon is your Spirit Sword and you also specialize in hand-to-hand combat. Your current…relationship…is with Yukina-" I glanced at Hiei, who glared at me murderously "-your sister's name is Shizuru, and you have a soft spot for kittens."

I turned to Kurama, who seemed fascinated by how much I knew. "Now it gets interesting. Shuichi Minamino aka Youko Kurama. Spirit fox demon and previous Makai thief, or rather, the King of the Thieves. Highly respected and feared because you stole from and killed countless innocents.-" Emerald eyes flashed amber. "-When mortally wounded by a bounty hunter, Youko transformed into soul form and inhabited an unborn human embryo, and began a new life as the human Shuichi Minamino. You had every intention of leaving as soon as you were old enough (as Shuichi, obviously, since Youko is centuries old), but soon became too attached to your human mother, Shiori. You wanted to be the best son you could be in return for deceiving her. You became top in all of your classes. You are a true gentleman and pure at heart. You only stole from the Demon Treasury so that you could save your mother's life, even at the high price of losing your own.

"Now, as for being a part of the team, your favored weapon is your Rose Whip, which you hide as a seed in your hair, along with many other seeds for many different uses. You're a man who knows his botany; both of the human world and demon world. You hardly ever use your fists, but will when it is necessary. Youko is something of a dual personality for you: his spirit resides within your mind. You constantly hear him speaking to you in your head, voicing his own opinion, which often disagrees with yours. He is your true and most powerful form. All right, that's enough about you I think."

I turned at last to Hiei. "Hiei Jaganshi. Final member of the group. Like Youko, you're highly respected and feared in the Makai for stealing and killing hundreds, both innocent and not so much. You are the owner of the Jagan Eye aka the Evil Eye, which is hidden underneath your headband. You are also the master of the Dragon of the Darkness Flame aka the Black Dragon, which takes the form of a tattoo under the wrappings on your arms when not in use. You are a master swordsman and your favored weapon is your katana, which you keep on your person at all times. You have god-like speed that is as yet unmatched. Yusuke is one of the only ones to ever defeat you in combat. You were previously a demon with evil intention, but once you joined the team, your intentions became much nobler, even if you didn't show it. Despite this, you still deal with a sort of bloodlust. Your past is troubling. You are a Forbidden Child, born among a society of entirely female Ice Maidens who reproduce asexually. Your mother broke this tradition and mated with a fire demon, which is why you are a half-ice half-fire demon, a hybrid. You were cast away violently and nearly killed by the Ice Maidens when you were very young. You are therefore rather antisocial and have the whole M3D's thing goin' on."

"M3D's?" asked Yusuke and Kuwabara.

"Yeah. Mysterious, dark, dangerous, and deadly. It's this personality that makes him everyone's favorite character. Seriously, I've asked a lot of people and 95% of them said that you're their favorite character."

"Are you _kidding me_?! But _I'm_ the main character," yelled Yusuke.

"Don't get me wrong, you have a pretty big fan club, too. In fact, you all do. Hiei's and Kurama's are just the biggest. I mean, Kurama's a gentleman, always calm, cool, and collected, never at a loss for words, a famed Makai thief, powerful, charming and _extremely_ attractive!"

"Amen to that!" piped in Natalie, who had been paying close attention, trying to learn as much as she could about their current situation. Kurama was blushing and ducking his head.

"I mean, look at him! That's completely adorable! And Hiei, as I mentioned with the M3D's, has an attitude that has made just about every human girl (and some boys) from my universe fall for him."

"What about you?" asked Yusuke slyly with cat whiskers and paws.

"As a character; guilty. As a real person; don't know yet, considering I just _actually_ met him." I smiled at Hiei, who 'hn'ed and looked away.

"Oh, by the way," I said to Natalie, "that's like his favorite word."

"What is"

"Hn."

"Hn." -Hiei

"See what I mean?"

"So who do you think is the hottest?" inquired Natalie.

"In order, I'd have to say Hiei, Kurama, Yusuke-" I turned to Kuwabara "-okay, you're not even _on_ the list." At this, Kuwabara threw a fit, Yusuke doubled over in laughter, Kurama hid a smile behind a hand and coughed to cover a chuckle, and Hiei smirked.

"Okay," I said, clapping my hands together, "back to the missions. The first case where Yusuke, Kurama, and Hiei met was when the latter two and a demon named Goki stole three demon treasures: Goki, the Rapacious Orb; Hiei, the Conjuring Blade; and Kurama, the Mirror of Darkness aka the Forlorn Hope. Goki used the Rapacious Orb to suck out human souls and eat them, until Yusuke defeated him with his enhanced Rei gun. Kurama used the Forlorn Hope to save his mother's life and would have lost his own had Yusuke not given some of his own life at the last second. Hiei used the Conjuring Blade and planned on creating a demon army with it. But he started with trying to turn Keiko into his first minion and Yusuke used his Rei gun to defeat him, reflecting off of the Forlorn Hope. Again, he won out of pure luck and on-the-spot thinking. And so, Yusuke's first case was solved, even though Koenma did get a good spanking."

Koenma sweat-dropped and Yusuke and Kuwabara fell to the floor, laughing hysterically.

"Yusuke's second mission was against Rando, who was planning on killing and stealing the techniques of Master Genkai after he won the contest for who would be her successor. Needless to say, Yusuke won and became the successor – again, rather unwillingly. Kuwabara had also participated and ranked third in the competition, also discovering his Spirit Sword. Again, Yusuke won by luck, but much more skill was involved this time. The next mission, your first as a team – although Kurama and Hiei didn't have much of a choice, as it was join the team or go to 'jail' – was against the Four Beasts; Genbu, Byakko, Seiryu, and Suzaku, who was the leader and the most powerful. He had a whistle that controlled demon roundworms that took over evilly influenced human bodies. Suzaku sent these roundworm-infected 'zombies' after Keiko, and this gave Yusuke the motive and power to defeat him. In the next mission, Yukina-" I glanced at Hiei again, who gave me his famous death glare, which I returned "-was kidnapped, her tear gems being used for profit. She was strong, though. No matter how much they tortured the poor ice youkai, she wouldn't cry for them. Until they began harming others. Once she was rescued, she wouldn't even let Hiei kill the man who had kidnapped and hurt her. Her heart is as pure as pure can be. As pure as ice. Unfortunately for all of you, you only thought that you had defeated the Toguro Brothers. So then you went on to the Dark Tournament, where we first actually meet the one and only Youko Kurama and witness the effects of Hiei's Black Dragon. As well as discover Kuwabara's ability to twist and bend his Spirit sword and Yusuke's five finger Rei gun limit. We also lost and regained Master Genkai. I could go into detail about the tournament, but I'm tired of talking. So now you talk. Why are we here? How did we get here? What are we going to do while we're here? And how do we get back?"

Awkward silence.

"How on earth do you know so much about us?" said Yusuke, more than a little unnerved.

"Because I've seen it all. Not to mention read it."

"Read it?"

"Yeah. You're also one of the world's most popular manga series, too."

"Are you serious! SWEET!"

"Yusuke, will you please and answer _my_ questions?" I was getting REALLY impatient.

"Um…right. Well, I don't actually know." I fell over anime-style.

"WHAT DO YOU MEAN YOU DON'T KNOW!?"

"Because I haven't told them yet." I yelped in surprise as Koenma popped up right behind me. "I wanted you all to hear this at once." Everyone was listening intently. "Does anyone here know of the White Phoenix?"

"That name rings a bell, but I'm not sure where I've heard it before." That was Kurama. Everyone else stayed quiet, anticipating what Koenma would say next.

"You know how Hiei's Black Dragon is a powerful entity from the fires of Hell? Well, the White Phoenix is a similar entity of unknown origin. It's most ancient powers are also unknown. We do know a few things about it, though. First of all, it was and possibly still is the mate of the Black Dragon.-" eyebrows raised, including Hiei's. "-They were separated by the splitting of the worlds, before any other demons or humans existed. Faced with this … complication, they searched for a host-" he looked over at Hiei "-a master that would shelter and nourish them."

"That's not possible," protested Hiei, "when I mastered the Black Dragon, it tried to break free of my control."

"It was testing your strength. Has it put up a fight since then, using all of its abilities?"

"No."

"And whenever you use it you feel a serious lack of energy, correct?"

"Hn."

"Not that this isn't interesting, but what does any of this have to do with me and Natalie?" I demanded.

"I was getting to that," Koenma continued. "The White Phoenix is rumored to have been trapped in a tear in the time stream (A/N: try saying THAT ten times fast) and was therefore caught in between our universe and time period and yours. It finally broke free, but was forced to dwell in your realm. And here's where you come in. One of you two is the reincarnation of its original host. And when said person turns 19, she will succumb to the influence and power of the White Phoenix."

"You make it sound like _it _will be mastering _me_," I said.

"What do you mean _you_?"

"Natalie's already turned 19 and nothing weird happened then, right Nat?"

"Nope, nothin' 'cept my drunk ex-boyfriend trying to make a move on you."

"I will always savor the look on his face when I hit him where it hurts."

"And with a 15 lbs bowling ball, no less."

Looks of pain and sympathy crossed every male face in the room as they visualized this, except for Hiei, who was just staring at me. Wait, why was he looking at me like that, like he was…considering something.

"What are some other traits of the White Phoenix?"I asked. Immediately, in my mind I had a picture of Hiei coming up behind me and pressing his katana to my throat. So _that_ was what he'd been considering. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Hiei disappear. Instantly, I threw my arms over my shoulders, grabbed a mass of cloth, and, with a burst of energy and strength, threw it over my head, sending Hiei flying across the room. He landed gracefully on one knee, glaring at me.

"Sheesh, you're heavy for a small guy," I commented. My shoulder had popped under the strain. Thank goodness it had popped back in.

"Um, what just happened?" asked Kuwabara stupidly.

"My guess is that Hiei wanted to test my speed and strength, am I right?"

"Hn."

"Woah. Sarah, I never knew you could do that!" Natalie exclaimed, wide-eyed.

"So _that's_ your name!" Yusuke yelled.

"Yeah, whatever. So-"

"But how were you able to do that to Hiei?" questioned Kuwabara.

"Because I saw it coming."

"How? He was moving so fast, there's no way you could've seem 'im."

"No, but I know him. As soon as he 'disappeared', I took a guess about what was happening, and reacted. Luckily, my guess was right, so I didn't make a fool of myself." I smiled my most winning smile at Hiei, but he was looking away, purposefully ignoring me. "Now, back to my question. Koenma?"

"Huh? Oh, right. Some other powers of the White Phoenix include flight and just about any trick using light, including blinding the opponent – whether making it blindingly bright or pitch black – also creating illusions, invisibility, and eventually even turning day into night and vice versa. It is also rumored that it can move faster than the speed of light and has some control over the sky weather."

"Don't you just mean the weather?"

"No, Yusuke, because it cannot control earthquakes, volcanic eruptions and the like.

"Sounds cool," I stated.

"One more thing," Koenma continued, "it also has the ability to witness and experience any given point on the time stream."

This I had not expected. Could it be that my…special difference…could only be the influence of the White Phoenix? But wait –

"Is it possible that one of the Phoenix's traits may have … surfaced … before I turn 19?"

"No," Koenma answered simply, "The Phoenix's power will not awaken until you turn 19, because that is how old the original host was when she mastered it. Why do you ask?"

"…No reason, just curious." A look at Natalie told me that she knew exactly what I was talking about. Something tickled in the back of my mind. I glared at Hiei. "Don't even bother, I have a block up." Everyone else looked at me, because to them I had just said something completely out of the blue.

"By the way," I turned back to Natalie, "Kurama and Hiei are telepaths. Hiei just tried to get into my mind, so I told him not to bother. I put a block up a long time ago." Everyone nodded their understanding.

"Wait, why would you need to create a block?" Kurama inquired.

"Because I wanted to and I could," I stated simply, shrugging.

"How did you know how to?"

"I didn't, but I tried it, and it worked. Okay. Now we know why we're here, so what are we going to do while we're here?"

"Well, as you may know, the power of the Phoenix is highly coveted, and there are those who would try and steal it from you."

"And how would they do that?"

"By killing you."

"Figures," I said.

"So it goes without saying that we are going to be training you…both of you."

"Wait," interrupted Natalie, a little startled, "why do _I _need to train!?"

"Because there was a considerable amount of unidentifiable energy in both of you, which is why we were unsure of which one of you contained the White Phoenix. Leading to my next point-"

"KOENMA-SAMA!" yelled a familiar voice as a pink and blue blur raced by. "I found out what you wanted about the other one. Apparently she's-"


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

**Who ARE These Girls!**

"KOENMA-SAMA!" yelled a familiar voice as a pink and blue blur raced by. "I found out what you wanted about the other one. Apparently she's-" suddenly she noticed us and smiled. "Oh, hello, my name is-"

"Botan, the head Ferry Girl, also known as the Grimm Reaper," I finished for her. "I'm Sarah, this is Natalie. We're pretty sure that I am the White Phoenix. What were you saying?"

"Oh, nice to meet you. Well, if you're the White Phoenix, then you-" she turned to Natalie "-are the healer."

"Are you sure, Botan?"

"Hai, Koenma-Sama. I've traced her power back as far as I can, and every one of her ancestors had healing abilities, even if they never used them."

"Wait, so I'm a healer?" asked Natalie, getting excited.

"That's right," replied Botan cheerfully.

"So…I don't have to learn how to _fight_, right?"

Koenma jumped in. "You still need to learn how to defend yourself until someone who can help you shows up. Which is what I was just getting to. You both need to learn some type of combat. You may choose what type that is, though. Natalie?"

"I don't want to fight at _all_. But since I don't seem to have much of a choice in the matter, I want to learn whatever includes the _least_ amount of bodily contact."

"That would include whips, throwing stars, and throwing knives," stated Kurama.

"Sounds good, I guess," Natalie shrugged. "What about you, Sarah?"

"I'd go for pretty much anything. But, if I had to choose, I'd like to try plain martial arts and dao swords. I know the basic punches, kicks, and blocks, along with a few combinations, but I'm not very good at them. And I don't know anything about how to use a sword."

"I don't think that we can teach you dao swords, but I'm sure that we can help you learn how to use a katana," Koenma suggested.

I shrugged. "Sounds cool. So, where are we staying and who's gonna teach us?"

"Well, Genkai's away on a mission, and she…said you could stay there until she gets back."

"She didn't really say that, did she?" I asked knowingly.

"Well, uh…no…but it makes me feel better to say so."

I snorted. "Well, as long as WE don't get in trouble, I'm all for it! I've always wanted to see Genkai's temple in person!"

"Genkai's temple?" asked Natalie.

"Yeah, you'll see. It's where Yusuke and Kuwabara trained. It's a huge temple with a surrounding wood, perfect for training under different conditions." Suddenly, a thought occurred to me and not a happy thought either. "Uh oh."

"What is it?" asked Kurama curiously.

"I just realized, we have a problem."

"What?"

"I can't train outside, because … I'm allergic to the sun."

"How can you be allergic to the sun?" asked Kuwabara disbelievingly.

"Easily, by being supersensitive to it. I'm one of those few who are so sensitive to it that if I get _any _sun at all, I get sun-poisoning, which takes the shape of a poison-ivy-like rash wherever I was exposed."

"She's had this problem for years, and she's not exaggerating," Natalie added, "I've seen it happen, and the rash ain't at all pretty."

"Thanks," I said sarcastically.

"Oh, Sarah, you know I'm not insulting you."

"Yeah, I know."

"Ahem," Koenma interrupted, "if you two are done?" We nodded. "Good, and I already know about you're…predicament. Before we brought you here, we needed to make sure that we knew everything about you that we needed to know. Here are your profiles-" he threw us two huge stacks of paper which we caught (well, I caught mine – Natalie kind of jumped away from it) "-feel free to correct any mistakes, although there shouldn't be any."

I skimmed over mine and read it aloud first. "Sarah Nabors – 18 years old. Birthday – Dec 5. Height – 5'4". Weight…yeah right, like I'm gonna tell you my weight. Allergies – Nuts, dairy, and egg, sun-sensitive, some pollens. Asthmatic. Pianist, singer, reader, writer, composer, artist, actress, martial artist, dancer, designer, tutor, over-achiever, straight-A student, studying to be a marine-biologist, currently attending Humboldt's University in California, United States of America, ice-skater-"

"Sheesh, how much stuff do you do!?" interrupted Yusuke.

"A lot. Now shut it. Besides, that was the last thing anyway. On the rest of the page, it just lists my family members, closest friends, prime hangouts, and favorite foods. The rest of this stuff is my medical records, school assignments and grades, and just about every other record I've ever received in my life. Man, you guys really go all out. What does yours say Nat?"

"Natalie Slater – 19 years old. Birthday – August 7. Height – 4'11". Weight…pft, screw that! Allergies – none. Pianist, professional singer, dancer, B-average, currently attending Humboldt's University as well, very popular, professional actress. Prime hangouts, blah blah blah. Medical records, blah blah blah. School records…EW! BLAH, _blah_, blah…(fades out). Yep, that looks like everything." We looked at each other, grinned, and threw the stacks of paper back at Koenma, who caught them (or rather, they landed on top of him, making him fall off of the desk and burying him up to the top of his huge hat – or whatever that thing is – in his own documents). Yusuke and Kuwabara were once again rolling around on the floor, clutching their stomachs and laughing hysterically. Again, Kurama had to hide a chuckle and Hiei rolled his eyes and smirked. Natalie and I were laughing as well.

"Haha. Sorry, Koenma. We couldn't resist." I apologized.

Koenma growled as Botan pulled the papers off of him and began organizing them, also giggling. "Well, it looks as though we have two more misfits on our hands," she said dramatically.

"Hey! Who're you callin' misfits!?" said me and Natalie at the same time. Again, we looked at each other, then started laughing as well.

"Okay, we got really off-topic!" I said once the laughter had died down (me being the last to stop) "Now back to my sun problem."

Kurama stepped forward. "I believe that I can give you a cream that will help with that, as well as a temporary cure for your asthma and other allergies."

I just stared at him. He acted as though this were the simplest and most normal thing in the world. As though he'd done it a million times before. Millions of thoughts were running through my brain, screaming to be heard. '_Is he serious? No more outrageous sunburn? No more constant awareness of food? No more inhalers every time you laugh too hard or run? No more completely useless sun screens and wide-brimmed hats and veils? Can he seriously do that?'_ But all that came out was-

"Wh-what?"

"You heard him baka onna," snarled Hiei.

I ignored him and continued to stare at Kurama. "Can you seriously do that?"

He chuckled. "You know so much about me and yet do not believe that I can do this?"

"NO! No, it's just that…I mean you have to understand that…the prospect of…of being somewhat…normal…would come as a shock. I mean, I've gotten so used to having to deal with all this-"

He held up a hand to stop me. "I understand. And yes, as soon as we get to Genkai's temple, I can have these things ready for you within three days."

"Oh…my…GOSH!" I threw myself at him in a bear hug. "Thank you _so much!"_

This time he actually laughed. "You're welcome," he said while patting my head like I was a child. I drew myself away from him and breathed in and out slowly.

Koenma had opened a portal (to Genkai's most likely) and the others were stepping through. I noticed that Natalie was eyeing Kurama with interest. '_Hmmm_' I thought as I entered the portal. '_This could be interesting.'_

I had no idea.


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

**The Calm Before the Storm: Settling In**

I felt myself falling through time and space. The pressure was enormous, and I felt my dinner coming back up. Just when I thought I would pass out from the strain, I felt myself falling, but from actual gravity this time. A serious pain filled my body as I hit the stone step with a loud _thud._ '_At least I landed on my butt and not my head,'_ I thought, even though I didn't feel very grateful just then. I groaned loudly and said "Owwww," giving the word several syllables. Looking up, I saw the moon and was thankful that it was still night even here.

I realized that Natalie would be falling right here in a few seconds. Looking around, I noticed that everyone else had already gotten there, and none were sitting. All were somewhat smirking at me. Noticing Kurama, an idea popped into my head. Getting up (and rubbing my behind for it still hurt like heck) I walked up to Kurama, took him by the shirt, and led him over to where I'd landed (he didn't seem to be resisting and when I looked back I saw a confused look on his and everyone else's face. I stopped him when we got there, and just as I said "Stay there," the portal opened again and Natalie fell through. Without thinking, Kurama held out his arms and caught her. I grinned wickedly as understanding dawned on everyone's faces save Natalie's, which just looked sick and confused. Kurama set her down on her feet, but she fell to the ground and vomited. Twice. No one was surprised though, including me.

Bending down, I helped Natalie up and rubbed her back.

"Don't feel bad Natalie," Kurama comforted, also bending down beside her, being careful not to step in or touch the sick. "Everyone gets sick their first few times going through the portals."

"Except for her." Yusuke pointed at me.

I shrugged. "I've been through worse. Although I will admit that I felt like I would puke when I was actually in the portal….WOW!" I had finally taken look at my surroundings and realized that I had landed on the bottom step of a HUGE crooked stone stairway, and at the top, there was an even bigger Japanese-style temple. I looked at the stairway again with dread, and saw the same look on Natalie's face, which had regained most of its color.

"There is no way I'm doin' that," Natalie announced. "I still feel sick and don't feel like moving."

"At least you didn't land on the stone stair on your butt," I stated.

"Oh yeah, thank you for catching me Kurama!" she yelled, grinning up at him.

"You're welcome."

"And as for the stairs, perhaps Kurama would be kind enough to carry you up," I suggested.

"Of course," Kurama said with a smile, turning around and motioning for Natalie to climb onto his back. Natalie obliged happily. I grinned and winked at her. Understanding, she grinned back and blew me a kiss, which I pretended to catch and throw it at Kurama. She laughed.

"What's so funny?" asked the subject of our little exchange.

"Nothing, Kurama, just a private joke." And with that, he took off at a remarkable speed. Hiei was already at the top, and Yusuke and Kuwabara had stayed down and offered to carry me up. I declined and said that this would be a good work-out. And I really was kind of excited about it. Pathetic, I know, but challenges like this tend to have that effect on me. The two boys shrugged and darted off, soon catching up with Kurama. I sighed and started myself.

A few minutes later, I reached the top, breathing heavily and with a stitch in my side. I knew what came next. I started wheezing and gasping. Natalie recognized the situation immediately.

"She's having an asthma attack!" The guys (save Hiei) started to panic, but I waved it off.

"It's okay, (gasp), it's just (gasp) a small one (gasp). It'll (gasp) calm down (gasp) in a few minutes (gasp)." Still, the boys looked doubtful and concerned, but trusted my judgment and waited for it to do so. Like I had said, it calmed down in only about half of a minute.

"Well, what do we do now?" I asked once I was breathing normally again.

"Now, we go pick out our room," said Kurama. "Despite how large this building is, there are only four rooms. Yusuke and Kuwabara will share one, Hiei and I will share one, and you and Natalie will occupy the third."

"Who's the fourth room for?" asked Natalie.

"Oh! I didn't know you guys were coming!" The voice came from behind me and made me jump and yelp, but I recognized it immediately.

"YUKINA!" me and Kuwabara yelled at the same time . Kuwabara got to her before me, but I managed to get a handshake.

"Umm…hello. I don't believe we've met before," she said once Kuwabara had put her down.

"Oh, right! My name is Sarah, and this-" I took Natalie by the arm and pulled her over "-is Natalie."

"Hey." Natalie smiled and waved.

"Nice to meet you. But…how do you know me?"

"Oh, right!" I said again. "I'll explain later. But I know more than just you're name. Yukina, an ice demon, born of the Ice Maidens, your tears are small pearl-like gems. You live with Genkai for now – which I forgot – and are currently 'with' Kuwabara."

"Wow! You do know a lot…" she looked thoughtful for a moment, and I knew what she would ask next "…do you know who my brother is?"

I looked around again, and everyone (minus Kuwabara, still unconscious) looked as though they were holding their breath, especially Hiei.

"…No. I'm sorry. I don't." Everyone let a slight look of relief cross their faces before hiding it immediately after.

Yukina just looked sad, but only for a moment before smiling at me again. "That's alright. I just thought I'd ask. So, why are you two here?"

"I'll let them explain. I've talked way too much today."

"Sure, I'll take you to your rooms. You can tell me while we walk."

"It's a long story," stated Natalie.

"It's a long walk."

Everyone began to walk inside, telling Yukina about their day. I was about to follow when I was rammed into a wall and pinned there. Crimson eyes stared up at me.

"What do you know, onna?"

"About what?" I asked, ticked that he would actually pin me to a wall, but not really struggling against it either.

"You know perfectly well what, baka onna."

"I'd suggest you don't call me things like that."

"You don't even know what that means," he smirked, thinking he'd won the argument.

"Let me rephrase that; I'd suggest you don't call me an idiot. And my name's Sarah, not Girl." It was my turn to smirk.

Hiei snarled. "Just answer the question. What do you know about Yukina?"

"I know that she's your sister, but you don't want her or Kuwabara to know. You told Yusuke and he let it slip to Kurama. You have nothing to worry about, 'cause I won't tell her, even though I think it's wrong to keep something like that from her."

"You don't understand the situation, onna."

"My name is SARAH! And YES I DO understand the situation. You're afraid that she will be ashamed of you, afraid of you, even hate you. You're too blind to see how much you're hurting her by NOT telling her. Now if you'd excuse me-" I brought my legs up and kicked him hard in the gut, causing him to release me in shock (not pain, I'm nowhere near strong enough to actually hurt him yet) "-I'd like to settle into my new room and go to sleep. It's been a long day and I'm exhausted." I started into the building, and without turning to look at him, I said "See ya later, _Bajito._" (For those who don't know, this means Shorty in Spanish)

"What did you just call me?"

I ignored him, and caught up to Natalie and the others. They had informed Yukina on the situation, and were currently telling Natalie everything she'd need to know about this universe. We arrived at our rooms, and it turned out that there were two on each side of the hallway and the neighboring rooms had a connecting door. To no one's surprise, Kuwabara chose to take the one next to Yukina's, forcing Yusuke to do the same. So (to Natalie's great joy) Kurama and Hiei, who had caught up only a moment after I had, took the one next to mine and Natalie's.

Once we had said our good nights and closed the door, we both took showers and brushed our teeth with the utensils already set out for us.

When we were in bed (it was a bunk, and I took the top), Natalie knocked on the bottom of my bed. Hanging my head over the side so I was upside-down, she said-

"Some day, huh?"

"Tell me about it."

"I think I know everything about this place by now, but I still feel like a stranger here."

"Tell me about it." I repeated.

"Although, Kurama is cute...Think I have a chance at him?"

"Absolutely! Want me to play Matchmaker?" She blushed.

"Only if you make it subtle." Her face had lightened up.

"Wow, you seem to be really serious about this one," I teased.

"Yeah. He seems so…different from the guys in our universe. He seems…ya know…perfect."

"Most of these guys are. Different…not perfect." A scary thought occurred to me. "And they did tell you about Youko, right?"

"Yeah."

"So just…be careful with him, alright?"

"Haha. Will do."

"I'm serious."

"Yeah…I know. But still, the idea…intrigues me."

"Oooh, a fancy word. He's had an effect on you already. Hmhm."

She hit me with a pillow. "Shut up and go to sleep."

I yawned. "Will do. 'Night."

"'Night."

Hours passed, and I couldn't sleep. Something was coming and I didn't like it. I started to get light-headed again, but this time it was different. I knew what was coming next.

I had to get out of here, or everyone would wake to my screaming.


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5**

**Witnesses: A Secret Revealed**

I silently but quickly got down off of the bed. Natalie was a pretty light sleeper, but I had mastered the art of silent getaways. I opened the door and began running, barefoot, still in my day clothes, outside. Once I was there, I kept running until I was out of view of the temple, right next to a small stream. I was so light-headed by then that it was all I could do to stand up. Suddenly, the small spasms came, and I knew that it was time. As my vision blurred, I only hoped that I wouldn't scream.

(3rd person POV)

Hiei had been sleeping in a branch on the tree just outside his and Kurama's room when he heard a noise. He opened his eyes to see a small, dark figure running out the door and into the woods. 'What is _wrong _with this girl?' he wondered. Whatever it was, she was emitting a strange ki. He hadn't sensed it on her before, and couldn't shake the feeling that something…extraordinary – even for the demon world – was about to happen. So he did the sensible thing.

He followed her.

Stealthily, he jumped from tree branch to tree branch, never losing sight or smell of the onna. Soon, he sensed another being close behind him.

"So you sensed it too, Fox?"

The redhead nodded.

They continued to follow her until she came to the stream surrounding the temple, where she stopped and started to shake rather violently. She fell to her knees and started clawing at her stomach and arms. She turned her face up – right at them. They hadn't bothered to hide themselves and even a human could see them in the dark.

But she didn't seem to notice. They saw her face clearly in the moonlight. She was wide-eyed with a distant look and her entire face was distorted with pain. She looked like she was trying not to scream and was gasping and grunting and making choking noises as a result. Then, she began writhing and screeching and convulsing on the ground. The sight was almost unbearable for the two powerful demons. Even Hiei was disturbed. She was clawing at herself and her head was pouring blood. 'Where are her injuries coming from?' Hiei and Kurama wondered. 'She didn't even hurt herself there. It's like the blood is coming out of nowhere.' Her clothes soon became soaked through with red stains as she continued screeching and convulsing. Suddenly, it all stopped, and she stopped screaming, and the blood…disappeared.

The two men watched wide-eyed as she stopped writhing and lay down on her back with her eyes closed, breathing heavily. "GGRRRAAAHHHH!" she yelled suddenly and angrily as she started punching a nearby tree, tearing the flesh on her knuckles with the bark. After a few more minutes, she hit it more softly and rested her head on the tree trunk. Then, so softly that only they could hear it with their "super-hearing", she said-

"I hate this so much. I hate this I hate this I hate this. And now I get to come up with an explanation for my bleeding hands." Then she cursed loudly and colorfully and soaked her hands in the flowing stream, hissing and cursing some more at the sting. Finally, she got up and began walking back toward the temple. Hiei and Kurama stayed where they were and began a telepathic conversation.

_Fox, what do you think just happened?_

_I don't know; I've never seen something like that before._

_What should we do?_

_Nothing yet. Let's just see what happens next._

_Should we tell the detective and the buffoon?_

_Now, Hiei, they have names. And no, I don't think we'll need to. Her screams probably woke everyone up._

_Fox, if you put a bomb in their room they would still be snoring._

…

…

_Well, we should get on back._

_Hn._

(Sarah's POV)

I crept as quietly as I could back up to the front door. I walked through the open door (I thought I had closed it…) and up to my room, where I saw, sitting on her bed with folded arms…

Natalie.

"Ummm." I couldn't think of anything to say. But I ended up not having to. She took one look at my bloodied fists and her look softened considerably.

"You had another one, didn't you?"

I refused to look her in the eye, and nodded slightly. She got up and came over to me, putting a hand on my shoulder before gently embracing me.

"I'm so sorry. I wish every day that you didn't have to go through this."

I returned the hug. "Thanks, Nat."

She released me. "So what was it this time?"

"…a medieval slicing machine."

"Oh my gosh." Her voice was barely above a whisper and filled with horror and pity.

I smiled softly. "Don't forget what I said about pity."

"I know you don't like it, but you have to understand that that's a natural reaction when you hear something like that."

"Yeah…so, did my screaming wake you up?"

"No, but you did scream. When you were leaving, your breathing was getting ragged."

"Oh."

"And by the way, I know you aren't going to like this, but Hiei and Kurama followed you…and are at the doorway right now."

I gasped and spun around, to see the stoic face of Hiei and the concerned one of Kurama. "Ah man," I groaned.

After a few moments of very uncomfortable silence, I said "How much did you see?" afraid of what I knew they'd say.

"Everything, now talk onna."

"Hiei, you really should be gentler."

"She's fine, Fox." Hiei turned to me again with that same hard glare. "Now talk. What was all that about?"

I was caught. I knew that I couldn't lie and have it make sense, but there was no way that I could tell them the truth either. "Unh," I groaned. I looked to Natalie for help, but she looked as helpless as I felt. "Umm – I – well – it's just that – I – unh -"

"Spit it out onna, we don't have all night."

I refused to look at them. I was afraid that if I did, my secret would just blurt out. So I just stared at the floor. When they didn't leave, I knew that I wasn't getting out of this so easy. So, here goes…

"Do you remember when I said 'That's what I saw' back in Koenma's office?"

"Yes."

"Hn."

"And when I asked if the influence of the White Phoenix could surface sooner than my 19th birthday?"

Same answer.

"Well…I asked because…I already have one of the Phoenix's powers-" I looked at them square in the eye, knowing that my look was more intense now "-I have the power to see and experience almost any point on the time stream." The boys' eyes widened slightly. "What you saw just now was one of my more…intense…episodes, in which I was in a dying body, being sliced to pieces slowly and painfully by a medieval slicing machine. That's another thing: the only…visions…that I have are always in the scene of a death or multiple deaths. The only one that was different was the one where I 'saw' Hiei telling Natalie to shut up when we first got here. My visions vary as well. Whenever I am witnessing our experiencing a suicide or accidental self-killing, I am in the body of that person and can feel, see, hear, and know what that person is at the moment. In other words, I _become_ that person. Whenever I see a murder, I am in the eyes of the murderer. And when I see a terrorist attack or mass killing…" I looked away.

"What…?" asked Kurama, concerned and bewildered at the same time.

"…I am in the bodies of _everyone _dying at that time." I shut my eyes and squeezed them, as if suppressing tears, and clenched my fists and teeth together. "You have _no _idea how painful that is. I have seen every means of death except for the one where I die peacefully in my sleep at a ripe old age. In other words, my visions are bloody, traumatic, and disturbing. I keep telling myself that I have this…ability…for a reason, but I can't think of one. I can't even stop any of these killings from happening, no matter how close the person is. And I keep thinking that there's something seriously wrong with me, because a normal human wouldn't be able to handle that kind of…trauma…without going mad. Sometimes I wonder if I _am _losing it."

There was a painfully long silence in which Natalie put her hand on my shoulder in comfort, and Kurama looked considerably thoughtful, and Hiei was just looking at me in…_no WAY!_

"_Do NOT look at me like that!" _I screamed at him. Everyone looked shocked at my second outburst of the night. "_Don't you DARE pity me! YOU of ALL PEOPLE! If you EVER look at me like that AGAIN I will…UGH!"_ I was steaming by now, enraged that he of all people would look at me like that. WITH PITY! That was one of the only things that could INFURIATE me.

Again, there was a prolonged silence.

A few moments later, Kurama noticed my still-bleeding fists. "We should fix those up for you," he said softly. I looked down at my bloodied hands.

"Perhaps I can help," said a sweet voice. Yukina entered the room, and I realized that she had been waiting just outside the door that whole time.

"Yukina, did I wake you up as well?"

"I'm guessing that the whole forest heard you screaming."

I looked down. "I'm sorry."

"Don't be. Let me see your hands." I obliged. "Oh, Sarah," was all she said before placing her own hands over mine and a bluish light surrounded them, engulfing my hands in a cool, watery-like energy. Only a few seconds later, the light faded out and my hands were as good as new.

"Thank you."

"You're welcome. Are you going to be okay?" Her crimson eyes filled with a comforting concern.

I nodded. "Yeah…I really think I will be. It feels nice to finally have someone else who believes me." I took a deep breath and said "So where are Yusuke and Kuwabara?"

"Present!" said two voices as they too emerged from the shadows beyond the doorway.

"Are you _kidding_ me? Were you guys there that whole time, _too?_"

They nodded grimly.

I sighed. "Guys, I am so sorry. I never realized that I screamed so loud."

"Actually, Yukina woke us up and said we were needed. We didn't hear a thing," said Yusuke, with one hand scratching his head.

I stared at the two blankly for a moment, then started laughing. "F-figures. Haha."

"HEY! What do mean by THAT!" the detective yelled He tried to walk toward me, but was tripped by Natalie. "Oof! HEY! That HURT!" We all started laughing at the picture of Yusuke in his T-shirt and pants on the floor with a bashed in nose and flaming cheeks. Cruel, I know, but funny.

"Well," I said, "we might as well try and get some more sleep."

"I don't think you'll get much," stated Hiei, pointing behind me. Sure enough, the window right next to my top bunk gave us all a clear view of the rust-colored horizon. It was sunrise. I sighed.

"Well, Nat and I were planning on having an all-nighter anyway. I guess we got what we wanted.

"I'll start breakfast," Kurama offered.

"FOOOOOD!" yelled the two empty-headed detectives, trying to chase Kurama down to the kitchen and scrambling over each other in the process. Natalie and I started laughing, while Hiei only smirked, then left the room.

"I'm gonna go help Kurama with breakfast," said Natalie, winking at me.

"Have fun," I teased. She gave me a thumbs-up and left to follow the still-clambering buffoons.

At that moment, as I glanced back out the window at the rising sun, I felt peaceful, and had only one thought.

"Everything's gonna be alright."

That's what I usually thought before a disaster struck.


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6**

**Bonding and Fighting**

As I walked back through the hallway and down to the kitchen, I wondered where Hiei had gone. My thoughts were answered as I walked past a window. Hiei was outside, practicing his swordsmanship in slow motion (well, slow for him. My eye could just barely follow each movement). I watched in awe as he moved gracefully and flawlessly through each form, stance, dodge, block, and strike, perfectly in tune with his imaginary opponent. I had always wanted to be able to move like that, with the grace and confidence of an expert.

I stood there, watching, wishing that were me – slipping and sliding through each step, jumping and moving with such strength, speed, and power – for several minutes. Finally, he stopped, and decided to acknowledge my presence. He looked at me with that oh-so-famous glare of his, while I smiled and waved. The window was open, so I said "Please continue, I'm just watching." He smirked and picked up his speed, so that I could no longer follow his movements. "Hey! No fair!" I yelled, but laughed all the same. Suddenly, I was staring right into crimson eyes, as he was right in front of me. I stopped laughing, but scowled when he smirked again at the look of panic on my face. Then, he was fifty feet away, practicing again. I shook my head at him (which he ignored), then continued on my trek to the kitchen. However, I soon got lost in the numerous hallways. So I backtracked. Soon I was back at that same window and kept walking until I was back at my room again. Turning, I took a deep breath and spotted the route that the others had taken earlier; the route I had just returned from.

So I started walking, and, sure enough, I saw that same window approaching. Before I could pass it, though, Hiei decided to hop through the window and stand in front of me.

"You're lost," he stated simply.

"Hm?"

"This is the third time you've passed this window. You're lost," he repeated.

"Oh…yeah, well it's a pretty easy thing to happen when you're in a place this huge," I said, rubbing the back of my head.

He closed his eyes and shook his head at me (like I did earlier), smirking. "Hn. Pathetic onna."

I sighed. "Yes, yes, we all know I'm pathetic. Now will you please shut up and show me where the kitchen is. And STOP CALLING ME 'GIRL'! My name is SARAH!"

"Hn. Whatever onna." And with that he started walking down the hallway, and I followed, growling.

"_Bajito_."

He stopped and turned to face me. "What language is that?"

"What? _Bajito_?"

"What else, baka onna?"

"STOP CALLING ME THAT! And it's Spanish."

"Hn. What does it mean?"

"Shorty." I scurried past him, hearing Kurama and Natalie talking up ahead. I didn't need to look at him to know that he was giving me his deathglare. "By the way, that reminds me, how can I understand you guys? Don't you speak Japanese?"

"Yes. Koenma gave us Language Pills before he brought you here."

"Gotcha," I said, nodding my understanding. I entered the kitchen, and here's what I saw…

Kurama with his arms around Natalie, guiding her hands with his own as he taught her how to crack an egg without getting the shell bits in mix that was already in the bowl. They were both somewhat blushing and Kurama was saying things like "That's it. Just do it gently." I leaned against the doorway, making room for Hiei to see. His face had a disgusted look on it.

"Glad to see you two are having fun," I said with a small laugh. They instantly broke apart and sweat-dropped, grinning foolishly and scratching the back of their heads. I simply laughed, holding my stomach. "HAHAHA! You should've seen the look on your faces!" I then realized that Kurama's shirt front was wet. My eyebrows raised and the two looked where I was looking, blushing so that their faces were the color of Kurama's hair. I continued to laugh.

"Oh yeah? Well…what about you and…and Hiei!" taunted Natalie lamely, seeing Hiei behind me.

"Actually, we just got done making fun of each other. And by the way, Nat…I definitely approve. You have good taste…both of you."

"…" I was laughing again.

"Sarah, I'm afraid you've misunderstood," Kurama tried to explain, "you see-"

(Flashback – Natalie's POV)

After talking to Sarah, I followed Kurama and the two fighting boys down to the kitchen. _Gosh he has beautiful hair…and eyes, and muscles. Okay, he's just plain GORGEOUS!_ I thought, as I wondered what it would be like to have him holding me. Yes, I'm a perv. Ya know what? WHO CARES! HE'S HOTT! I remembered what they'd said about him having a bunch of seeds and his Rose Whip hidden in his hair. I also remembered what they'd said about Youko. The idea of a powerful silver fox demon thief in this beautiful and kind gentleman was…interesting. But, as I'd told Sarah, the idea intrigued me.

As I finally snuck past Yusuke and Kuwabara, I approached Kurama. "Hey."

"Hello, Natalie."

"Wudja like some help with breakfast?"

"You know how to cook?"

"No, but I'd like to learn."

He chuckled. _Man, that laugh's sexy!_

"Of course. I'd be happy to teach you."

I smiled and he smiled back. Once in the kitchen, he took out a large mixing bowl and started taking out different ingredients. Some I recognized as flour and sugar, cinnamon and eggs, but the others I didn't recognize.

"What're we making?"

"Pancakes. Now, I'm assuming you know how to measure."

"Yeah. That much I can do."

So, once he had told me what each ingredient was and how much of each thing was needed, I got to work: measuring out each ingredient, flattening the top with a butter knife, and dumping or pouring it into the large bowl. However, once I got to the eggs, I had a problem. I had always thought that cracking an egg would be easy, but had never done so before. As I gripped the egg in my hand and cracked it on the rim of the bowl, I realized that I had cracked it too hard, and the yolk and shell bits went flying into and around the bowl. I was humiliated when Kurama started laughing. I glared at him, but he was still laughing. _Damn! Why does he have to be so sexy?_ Realizing that I still had egg yolk on my hand, I got an idea.

"You know, I'd stop laughing if I were you. Because I sure wouldn't want a hand full of egg yolk in my hair." I grinned maliciously as he immediately stopped laughing and looked at me with a serious expression. "Oooooo, I have a weapon." My grin widened as I took a step closer to him and he took a step back.

"You wouldn't really do that, would you?" he asked.

I just grinned mischievously at him, before running toward him. Obviously, he dodged easily and grabbed my wrist.

"Ah, ah, ah." He said, wagging his finger at me. And with that, he guided me over to the sink (still keeping tight – but not too tight – hold of my arm), turned on the warm faucet, and stuck my hand underneath the water. Grabbing a sponge, he started scrubbing the yolk off of my hand.

"Ummm…ya know…I can wash my hands myself, thank you very much," I begged, completely mortified.

"And risk you attacking me again? Nice try." He was _still smiling_. I couldn't stop staring at his gorgeous face out of the corner of my eye. I hardly even noticed when he turned off the faucet and gave me a paper towel, finally letting go of my hand. I got another idea.

Before he had a chance to do anything, I reached out and dried my hand on his shirt front (maybe admiring his chest and abs muscles meanwhile). I smiled and said "I can also dry my hands by myself, thank you very much." I giggled. To my surprise, he blushed and started to laugh too. After I had really dried my hand off using the paper towel, he grabbed another egg (after scooping out the shell and yolk of the previous one) and gave it to me. I took it and was about to try again when he caught my hand and said-

"Woah. You're still using too much energy. Here-" he covered my hands with his (meaning he was practically embracing me and I could fell his warm breath and body heat) and guided my hands, breaking the egg perfectly and cleanly. Then-

(End flashback – Sarah's POV)

"And that's when you came in," Kurama finished. By now, both of my eyebrows were raised and I was looking back and forth between the two of them.

"You _do_ realize how much flirting was done in that story, right?" I taunted, loving every minute of this. Again, their faces were the color of the kitsune's hair.

"Umm, Sarah, can I talk to you for a sec?" Natalie demanded, grabbing my hand and pulling me into the hallway. Once we were far enough away that even the two demons couldn't hear us, she rounded on me. "I thought you were trying to _help!_"

"I am!" I protested. "Look, I know him a lot better than you do, so will you _trust me!?_ You have to get him a little flustered at first, and _then_ you let things happen naturally. Okay? I know what I'm doing."

"Well, okay. But I hope you're right."

"You know I am. Besides, didn't you see the way he blushed when I suggested you two as a couple?"

"No, not really. Considering that I was trying to think of the best way to get you to stop talking."

"Haha. Well, he was. He's interested. Just keep being your loud, annoying self, and he'll be yours in no time."

She punched me in the arm. "Hey, who you calling loud and annoying? You're way louder and way more annoying than I am."

"That may be, but I'm not the one crushing on everyone's favorite kitsune. Now get back in there and pretend to be cute." I laughed again when she elbowed me. Then, I followed her back into the kitchen, passing Hiei, who was talking to Kurama.

"Hey, um, do you have any cereal, or something?" I asked.

"We're making pancakes, though," said Kurama, a little confused.

"Yes, but you're putting eggs in them, and I'm _fatally_ allergic to eggs. Which reminds me, don't touch me until you're done eating and wash your hands."

"Don't worry, she says this at _everyone's_ house," Natalie said, arms folded.

"Oh!" said Kurama, looking extremely guilty. "I'm so sorry. I completely forgot!"

"Hey, hakuna matata. This happens all the time," I said, trying to make him not feel guilty.

"Still…anyway, we do have some cereal, but it's not a huge selection. They should be in that cupboard there," the redhead said, pointing to a cupboard about a foot above my head. I nodded my thanks and opened the door.

"NO WAY!" I said, pulling out a box. "I don't believe it! You guys have my favorite cereal!" I turned the box around so the others could see.

"Special K!"

"Actually, that was Koenma's idea. I believe that it was on the list of your favorite foods," explained Kurama.

"AWESOME! THANKS, KOENMA!" I shouted to the ceiling.

Kurama and Natalie started laughing, and Hiei just stood there with an eyebrow raised. I sighed.

"Oh, whatever. Got a bowl I can use?"

"Here," said Kurama, giving me a small bowl while smiling. "I think we also have some milk-substitute in the refrigerator."

"SWEET!" I squealed, opening the fridge and taking out the carton. "Should I thank Koenma again?"

"Hmhm. Yes." The redhead chuckled.

As I took in a breath to do so, someone's hand covered my mouth. "You're too loud, even for a ningen," hissed Hiei from behind me. He took his hand from my face (but only after I threatened to lick it), and went over to stand by Kurama again, who had finished the pancake batter and was pouring it on the frying pan.

"So, where are the doofuses?" I asked, munching into my breakfast.

"They're in the other room, playing video games," said Kurama.

"And by other room, you would mean…?" I asked, referring to the hundreds of "other rooms" there were.

"The one right through there," he replied, pointing to a half-open door on the other side of the room. I then wondered how I hadn't heard their yelling and gloating and complaining before.

"HAHA! Take THAT you purple-faced FREAK!" Yusuke was yelling at Kuwabara's character.

I chuckled at them while I finished my cereal and started cleaning my bowl and spoon in the sink.

"Duck in cover," said Kurama to me and Natalie, right before yelling "Breakfast is ready!"

"FOOOOOOOD!" yelled the two boys in the other room for the second time that morning. A stampede followed, ending with me and Natalie sprawled out on the ground, face-down, twitching.

"Oops, sorry guys," said Kuwabara, mouth full of pancakes and syrup.

"Ehhhh, no prob Kuwa," I said, standing up and offering a hand to Natalie. "Hey, is it okay if I take a walk while you guys eat?"

Kurama gave Hiei a look, which he returned. "I suppose so," said the kitsune, nodding.

"Thanks much. Wanna come Natalie?"

"I haven't eaten yet."

"Oh, right. Well, see ya in a few." I waved as I headed for the door. Thankfully, I could see the exit, so I didn't get lost. As I walked outside, I was thankful that the sun wasn't quite up yet, and reminded myself to make sure that I was back before I had a chance to get sun-poisoning. I started back to that little stream I had visited last night. In the light of the sunrise, it was an incredibly peaceful scene. I sat right at the water's edge and watched the crayfish squirm around in the sand. My mind started to drift and I found myself breathing rhythmically, meditating. This was the perfect spot to do just that, and I slowly cleared my mind, silencing all thoughts and simply taking in the nature around me. Slowly, I began to feel the ki, or energy, of everything around me. I felt each tree, blade of grass, leaf, insect, bird, fish, and…

Hiei?

I opened my eyes and looked up to see a black blur just as Hiei jumped out of sight.

"Nice try, Hiei, my senses aren't _that_ weak." He appeared in front of me, hands in pockets as always. "Let me guess, Kurama has you keeping an eye on me just in case there are other not-so-friendly demons around." He nodded. "Pft. Figures. Not that I don't appreciate it." I closed my eyes again, and restarted my breathing exercises. Sensing that he hadn't left yet, I opened one eye to see him still standing in front of me.

"Umm, is there something I can do for you?" I asked politely. Then, he did the strangest thing. He came over and sat down in front of me. Then, he just sat there, staring at me. "Umm, is something wrong?"

"Hn." With that, he closed his eyes and began to meditate as well.

"I'll take that as a 'no.'" I copied his actions. Soon, I was in that peaceful state again, taking in the energies around me. Finding Hiei's, I studied it. It was possibly the most massive amount of energy I had ever felt. How did he keep all that inside his body? I wondered. Everything else was just a pebble to Hiei's mountain of energy. We just sat like that for a long time, but when I felt like I was going to slip into sleep, I decided to stand up. I was really sorry that I had to end that moment though. It felt really nice; being in such a beautiful place with Hiei there, just sitting and meditating.

As I turned to head back to the temple (the sun was almost above the horizon), I turned to Hiei and smiled. "Thanks for meditating with me."

He smirked. "It may be the only time you're quiet."

I laughed. "Good point." He seemed surprised that I hadn't taken offense. "I talk a lot. It's nothing to be ashamed of." I shrugged. He 'hn'ed again and walked behind me as I started back through the trees. Finally, we reached the kitchen again to find the other four cleaning up the table, almost done. Well, Kurama and Natalie were cleaning up. Yusuke and Kuwabara were just standing there discussing something.

"So…" I said, getting their attention. "What do we do today?"

"First things first," began Kurama "you need to go shopping for some new clothes. You very well can't wear the same thing every day."

"Hiei does," I pointed out.

"Hiei's different," retorted the redhead.

"Yeah, that's a good point," I teased, elbowing the short black-haired demon.

"Do that again and you won't get a chance to train," he said.

"Hey! That reminds me," Natalie said. "Who's gonna teach us?"

"I'm guessing that Kurama will be Natalie's teacher since her training involves whips." He nodded. "And I'm guessing that Hiei will be my teacher since my training involves a katana."

"Yeah, but _I'm _gonna be teaching you the hand-to-hand combat," said Yusuke, pointing to himself.

"I'm lookin' forward to it."

"So," said Natalie, "when do we get our stuff?"

"As soon as you're ready," said Kurama. "We already have a portal that will take you there." Natalie's face turned slightly green at this remark.

"Don't worry, Natalie, it isn't nearly as bad the second time," comforted Kurama.

"And if need be, he can always catch you again," I suggested. Kurama smiled and nodded. I sent Natalie a look. She sent me one back that said "Yay!"

"So, if I can just get some sort of wide-brimmed hat, we can go," I said.

"Ta-da!" said Yusuke and Kuwabara, presenting the exact hat that I usually wear.

"Let me guess, Koenma?" I asked, accepting the hat and putting it on.

"Yep!" They said cheerfully.

"Remind me to thank him loudly the next time I see him."

"Will do," said Natalie.

"All right. If that is all, let's go," said Kurama, holding out some money to me and Natalie. "This should be enough. Have fun."

"Wait," protested Natalie, "Aren't you guys coming with us?"

"Yeah, and where's Yukina?" I asked, noticing for the first time that the little ice-youkai wasn't anywhere around.

"She's at Koenma's," said Yusuke, "and we were gonna come, but Koenma called us a while ago for a meeting."

"Oh. Well…okay. So, we're on our own?"

They nodded.

"Sweeeeeeet!" squealed Natalie.

"So, we're shopping in Japan unsupervised?" I asked.

Again, they nodded.

"This should be very interesting." We followed the guys out of the temple and immediately found the shimmering portal. The guys went through first, and then I jumped through and again found myself hurtling forward at full speed. My stomach began churning again, but as Kurama said, it wasn't nearly as bad as it had been that first time. Once again, as I fell back into the real world, I landed on my butt (but thankfully there was grass instead of a stone step this time) and once again, I stood up, rubbing my butt, ignoring the snickers of the boys and Hiei's smirk.

"Forgot to ask someone to catch _me_," I grumbled. Kurama gave me an apologetic look and gave me a hand. Then, he went over to the exact spot I had fallen out of and caught Natalie just as she fell through.

"Thanks, Kurama," she said sweetly with a totally winning smile. Kurama blushed slightly as he set her down.

"Yeah, thanks Kurama," I thought sarcastically. Noticing the sun was out, I checked to make sure that I was wearing long-sleeves and –pants and that my hat was in place. After that, I took in my surroundings, and one word came to mind.

"WOAH!"

"This place is AWESOME!" agreed Natalie.

"Come on, Nat! See you guys later!" And with that, I grabbed Natalie by the arm (or rather tried to, but found out that she was already running toward the huge mall) and ran inside.

A few moments later, the reikai tantei popped into Koenma's office, waiting for the toddler to give them news.

"Ahh! I'm glad you were able to come so soon," came the proper, kiddish voice.

"Yeah, we're here, so tell us what you were so worried about!" Yusuke demanded.

"Yes, well, soon after you left, George (the blue ogre) came to me with some very…interesting news. I can't believe we overlooked it before. I thought that I had gotten everything about Sarah that we needed to know. I just-"

"Get to the point," said Hiei, impatient as always.

"It seems that Sarah isn't as innocent as we thought."

"What do you mean?" asked Yusuke, baffled.

"It turns out…

"_SHE'S KILLED A MAN!_"


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7**

**A Scary Story and Shopping "Fun."**

As me and Natalie shopped (trying to use as little of the money Kurama had given us as possible), we wondered what the meeting had been about. But soon, we got bored on that subject and started talking about Natalie and Kurama.

"So I'm thinkin' that somehow we should get them all to play 'Truth or Dare' – although I have NO idea how we're going to do that – and I'll dare either you or Kurama to kiss the other."

"WHAT! But what if he doesn't _want_ to do that?"

"Trust me, he does. I've seen the way he's been looking at you."

"OOH! Look over there!" said Nat, pointing at a store.

"Hey, that kind of looks like our Hot Topic back home."

"Let's check it out!" Hot Topic had always been one of our favorite stores.

We found several items that would be perfect for our long stay. Shirts, jeans, slacks, tennis shoes, hairbands, underwear, and more.

"Hey, they have mood rings! And look at the shapes!" I'd always loved mood rings, especially the ones that weren't just a regular band. The one that caught my eye was one that, instead of a band, the ring was just a long, thin dragon, whose mouth was connected to the tail with a small fake diamond. I grabbed it and we went up to the cashier and paid for our stuff. Just as we exited the store, Natalie got a glazed look in her eye. Then, she looked at me and said-

"The guys want to meet us outside right away."

"Then let's go. I think we have everything we need. And we still have plenty of money left." As we walked outside, we saw the four detectives standing in a circle, not looking very happy. "Hey guys!" I said, and then noticed their grim looks. "Who died?" I asked, not realizing just how appropriate the question was.

Yusuke came up to me and held a picture up to my face. I felt myself go pale as I recognized the man in it. "Oh no." My voice was barely above a whisper. Natalie came over and looked at the picture, and I watched as her face drained of color, too.

"To be exact, Jack Gordon (I totally made that name up) did," said the detective harshly. "He died about eight months ago in Baltimore, Maryland. They said that he was clearly murdered, for his body was horribly mutilated and his face held a look of absolute horror. Do you recognize this man?" He shoved the picture into my face, literally.

I looked down, closing my eyes, and nodded.

"Do you know how he died?"

I nodded again.

"Do you know who murdered him?"

"HEY!" That was Natalie. I looked up and saw her face become consumed with rage. "Don't you DARE treat her like that! You act as though she's a common criminal when she _saved my life_ that night. You should be asha-"

"I killed him," I interrupted. "It was an accident. I never meant to kill him, but he made me mad."

"What did he do?" asked Hiei.

"He was…threatening Natalie…as she came home from her day-job. I had a … a vision, and I saw him … hurting Natalie."

"What was he going to do to her?" asked Kuwabara.

"He…he was going to…to…" I couldn't say it.

"He was going to rape and beat me to death." Natalie came to my rescue once again.

"I couldn't let that happen, and once I got down there, he was already cornering her. I got mad, and I killed him. That was the same night that I got this." I pulled up my sleeve and showed my right arm to the boys, giving them a clear view of the long and ugly scar on the skin on the forearm just above the elbow. I heard several gasps and one "Shee-" from Kuwabara. It had been a deep cut, and the scar was purple and red, still fairly fresh since it had reopened several times after it had scabbed over.

"I'm sorry. I should have told you last night." My voice was soft again.

"The last thing that you want to do is make her that angry," said Natalie. "That was probably the only time I'd ever seen her that way."

We stood in silence for several awkward minutes. Natalie was comforting me, and I was still looking at the ground. I chanced look at the four, and saw that they were all looking at me, trying to decide what they should do about this. He hadn't been an innocent man, but the fact stood that I had killed him.

"There's just one thing you guys should know," Natalie said, breaking away from me. "Ever since then, Sarah has never forgiven herself for that, even though everyone keeps telling her that it wasn't her fault. She has nightmares about it sometimes, even today, and she refuses to listen to anyone who tells her to move on. In other words, she feels guilty and probably always will. So you have no right to yell at her or think any different of her. And if you do, then you're even more heartless than Jack Gordon."

The silence this time seemed even deeper than the previous one.

"Well…" I started in a still soft voice, trying to break the silence "…I think that we have everything that we need. Here's the extra." I handed the money to Kurama.

"This is only a little less than half of what I gave you," he commented after counting the coins.

"I know, we tried to keep it cheap."

Silence.

"Look," started Yusuke "the main thing we were worried about was that we were dealing with a … well, someone who didn't mind killing. That clearly isn't the case, so … I say we just forget this ever happened. I'll explain to Koenma, but I think that you guys should go ahead and head back to the temple."

I looked at each of them as they nodded their agreement, then smiled weakly. "Thank you. You don't know how relieved I am to hear that." Sure enough, I felt myself breathing a bit easier…although I wasn't feeling normal again, yet.

"Well, we were planning on spending the first part of the day in the Ningenkai anyway," said Kuwabara. "We may as well do that. We can use the money that they saved after getting their stuff and just walk around for a while. Yukina should be here in a sec-" just then, a portal opened and Yukina stepped through gracefully. "YUKINA!"

"Hello, Kazuma. So, what happened?"

"Tell ya what. I'll tell you all about it while we take a romantic stroll through the beautiful park my love," said the idiot in that totally stupid pathetic attempt he always used to get the girls. I don't know how Yukina puts up with it.

"All right," said the new arrival sweetly, smiling. They were soon far away.

"Well, it seems we won't see those two for a while," observed Kurama, "so we may as well split up into groups and meet back here in a few hours. I'll go with Natalie. Hiei, do you mind walking with Sarah?" My heart skipped a beat.

"Hn."

"Alright. Here's your money." He handed us half of the coins I had given back to him. "We'll meet you in the food court at noon and see if we can find Kuwabara and Yukina."

"Sounds good." As he and Natalie started walking away, she turned and winked at me. I grinned and crossed my fingers for her to see. She repeated this gesture. As I looked around, I noticed that Hiei had seen this exchange and had a raised eyebrow. I laughed slightly. "Natalie has a thing for him." He 'hn'ed, then stood there. "Okay, so I'm guessing that I'll be leading the way?" He gave me a look that said "Like I know where to go? Yes onna, you're leading." "Alrighty then, let's get started." I grabbed his arm and ran back into the Hot Topic-like store before he could protest. He saw the dragon ring on my finger and said-

"Where did you get that?"

"Hm?"

"You didn't have that ring when you came here."

"Yeah, I got it here."

I looked around again and found a nice black denim beanie hat. It fit perfectly. I looked at a large collection of pins and found three small ones. One had a picture of a blood-red stallion with creepy-looking eyes and fangs that made it look beautiful at the same time. The second had a picture of a rearing black dragon. I laughed as I thought of Hiei. The last one had a picture of a beautiful white, angelic creature (it was impossible to tell what kind of creature it was by the way it was painted) that made me think of the White Phoenix. After I purchased all of this I put the three pins in a V on the right side of the beanie, and put it on my head. It matched the clothes that I was currently wearing, which were the tight black jeans and long sleeve shirt with a black fairy painted by Nene Thomas on the front that I had been wearing this whole time (A/N: by the way, Nene Thomas is an awesome artist and if you haven't already, you should check out her website). I found Hiei looking at some black belts.

"Want one?" He cocked an eyebrow. "Guess not." I looked at the big roman numeral clock on the wall. 11:10.

"Do you know where the food court is?" I asked Hiei. He glared at me. "Nope. Well, there's probably a mall map around here somewhere." Spotting one, I rearranged the many bags I was carrying and walked over to it. I found the sign that meant "food court" and headed in that direction, Hiei in tow. On our way down, I spotted something else, and noticed that Hiei had, too.

An ice-cream cart.

I smiled knowingly and walked over to it. I noticed Hiei's face lighten up like a child's when he realized I was going to buy him some. "_…That's too cute." _my thoughts were screaming.

"What kind do you want?" I asked him. I watched his eyes skim over the options, then rest on one: mint-chocolate chip. When the vendor asked what we wanted, I asked for one mint-chocolate chip. The vendor handed it to Hiei, who was eyeing it hungrily. I had to hide a laugh as he began licking at it (more like attacking it). When he looked at me questioningly, I answered his thoughts with a shrug. "I'm allergic." He looked at the ice cream. "Don't worry," I said reassuringly, "I'm used to people eating stuff that I'm allergic to." He shrugged and finished his cone, throwing the napkin away in a nearby trashcan. "I think I just discovered the perfect present for you, _Bajito_."

"Don't call me that. And … do you mean that you've never had sweet snow before?" he asked, using his name for ice cream.

"I have, but only the kind that I can make at home."

"You can make sweet snow?" he asked, bewildered. It was so funny how much he changed when talking about his precious "sweet snow." I laughed again.

"Yes, but I'm sure that it's not as good as the store-bought, since it's milk-free and doesn't have a lot of the ingredients that the kind of ice cream you like does." He nodded in understanding. Then, he seemed to return to normal as we approached the food court. The other two weren't there yet, so we found a table and waited, after I bought a bottle of Grape Soda and a big bag of Wavy Lays. As I opened my bag of chips, Hiei said "Onna" and pointed to a couple coming toward us. I grinned from ear to ear when I realized that the arm-in-arm laughing couple was none other than Natalie and Kurama. Natalie had a single red rose in one hand and was wearing a beanie as well, only it was white with a sewn-on picture of a white fox on it. Her just-past-the-shoulder-length brown hair flowed gracefully and fully down from the beanie, as did my middle-of-the-back-length dark blonde hair did. She was wearing high-heel white knee-length boots that matched her white skirt. (I forgot to mention that I was wearing black stack-heel slip-ons.)

As they approached our table, I said "Well, it seems like you two have really hit it off." They both smiled and Kurama blushed. "So, are you two an 'item' now?" I asked slyly.

"Yep!" said Natalie cheerfully.

"And how did that happen?"

"Well…"

(Flashback – Natalie's POV)

"So where would you like to go first?" asked the redhead.

I thought back to the stores we had already visited, and found the one I was looking for: the one that reminded me of PacSun. "That one." I pointed to it.

"Alright."

I grabbed his hand in a burst of courage and pulled him with me over to the store. As we entered, I got an idea. "Just a minute, I wanna change into something I already got."

"By all means." He smiled at me, and I felt my insides melting. He was so _freaking gorgeous!_ I smiled back as cutely as I could and headed back to the dressing rooms with my bags. I changed quickly into a shirt with a single red rose draped over the front and a white skirt. While changing, I let my mind drift to Kurama. During breakfast, he had told me about his family. Never before had I seen someone speak of their family with such love and happiness. You could practically see the love in his eyes when he spoke of his mother. He was such an amazing guy. A total gentleman, gorgeous, polite and caring, loving, strong, and stern when need be. In other words, he was _perfect_. And now I just had to make him see how perfect _he_ was for _me_ (and vice versa). I slipped on the shirt and went back out to meet him. I found him in the men's department and ran up to meet him as he was checking out an overcoat with a peculiar design on one side.

"Whaddaya think?" I asked, showing off my outfit. He smiled at me again.

"I love it." _Yay!_ I noticed something in the women's department and I walked over to it, leaving Kurama to his shirt-shopping. It was a white beanie with a picture of a white fox sewn on to it._ Could that BE more PERFECT!?_ I thought as I checked the price tag. Yep! I had enough money. I paid for the hat just as Kurama came back from the other side of the store, empty-handed.

"You didn't want it?" I asked.

"No. I already have one like it."

"Oh ok. By the way, check this out!" I showed him the beanie, fox-side up. His eyes shown with humor when he said-

"How about that," as a statement.

"Yeah, not to mention it matches perfectly," I said dramatically, acting silly. I was amazed at how comfortable I felt around him. I usually only acted this way with my closest friends (usually I act sillier). He laughed at this, and my heart fluttered. We left the store and glanced at a large clock on the wall.

"Umm…do you know where the food court is?" I asked sheepishly.

"Of course. Follow me," he replied politely (Does he have any other kind of reply? I wondered)

"Will do."

As we began to walk toward … wherever Kurama was taking us, he offered me his arm. I accepted it with a huge smile as we continued walking. Soon, however, he stopped and turned to me. He reached into his hair and withdrew-

A single red rose, perfectly bloomed and without any blackened edges, thorns blunted and mid-length stem. It looked exactly like the one he used for his rose whip. My heart stopped as he turned to me and offered me the rose.

"You really are a beautiful young girl…and I can see that you have a good heart. I'd like to get to know you better…if you'll let me."

I stood there, mouth open, eyes wide, for several moments. I accepted the rose, still transfixed. Then, it finally clicked, and I screamed and jumped on him, wrapping my arms around his neck, being careful not to crush the rose. "Yes! Of course!!" He laughed and put his arms around my waist.

"So wait," I said, releasing him, "does this means we're…together…or what?"

"I was hoping that the rose would take the place of a class ring," Kurama said, blushing furiously. "And I was hoping that the hug meant 'yes.'"

"Well, let me clear that up for you," I said, grinning from ear to ear. "YES!" I flung myself at him again. He pulled back and offered me his arm again, which I accepted.

And so, we continued our walk toward the food court, which was now only a staircase away. Then, we saw Hiei and Sarah.

(End flashback – Sarah's POV)

"And then we came over to you guys." Natalie finished.

"Hn. Kurama, I'm disappointed," said Hiei, closing his eyes and smirking, "you can do much better than that." I elbowed him – HARD – causing him to fall off the table (which he had been sitting on).

"Watch it, twerp!" I said, while he quickly stood up and glared his most evil glare at me. "Sorry, _Bajito_, but those glares don't work on me. And that's lesson #1 – never insult me or Natalie. It'll only end up in your mortification." I smiled sweetly at him, and I knew that the only reason he wasn't insulting or attacking me was because I'd bought him "sweet snow" (and he'd be in trouble with the Baby Boss). I looked up to see Kurama and Natalie snickering at us.

"Don't worry, Hiei," said Natalie, still smiling, "that's just Sarah's way of telling you she like's you." Hiei grimaced, and it was my turn to glare at Natalie. She gave me a look that said "You know it's true," and I sighed.

"Actually, she's right," I told Hiei. "This is how I treat all of my guy friends. You'll find that I can be quite violent at times."

"Hn. I never said that I was your friend, Onna."

"Maybe you don't have to, _Bajito_." He gave me a look. It was … weird.

"HEY, GUYS!" called a familiar voice.

It was Kuwabara and Yukina. They were running up to us. "Are we ready to go back to Genkai's?" asked the orange-head.

"I think so," said Kurama.

"Hey, are you guys together now?" he asked, meaning Natalie and Kurama.

"Let's just get back to the temple," I said.

"Alright," everyone said.

Back at Genkai's, Natalie and I had already put away our new clothes and accessories, and Natalie had filled me in on ALL the details of her new relationship with Kurama. I couldn't be happier for her. But then she brought it up.

"Sooooo…?"

"So what?"

"SO, I was noticing some … shall we call it eye movement? … with Hiei."

"Huh?"

"Are you crushing on him?"

"…"

"You ARE!"

"…"

"Come on, talk."

"…It's possible."

She screamed.

"Natalie, keep it down."

"I'm sorry. I just can't really picture you with him."

"…"

"…"

"…"

"Okay, say something."

"I can't help it. I just really like him. Actually, I liked him even when he was just a cartoon character."

"Are you serious?"

"Yeah, but of course, it wasn't that serious then."

"Well, obviously, 'cause he wasn't real."

"…Actually, they always seemed real to me, Nat. I never knew why, but I always pictured something like this happening, and…now it is. It's just so…"

"Weird?"

"Exciting. This is the life I've always wanted for myself."

"Whaddaya mean?"

"…I don't really know. But I know that this was meant to happen."

"Okay, Sarah, don't get all sappy on me."

I laughed. "Alright. Let's see what the guys are doing."

"Yeah. And Kurama."

I laughed harder. "I have never seen you like this. Are you in love or something?"

"…Maybe."

I laughed some more and hugged her. "Come on, they're probably making lunch right now." As we walked down to the kitchen, arm in arm, we passed that same window again and once again Hiei was out there practicing. "Umm, ya know, I did have that huge bag of chips. I'm probably set 'til dinner." Natalie winked at me, and I leapt out of the window (my hat was still on). As I walked up to the now black blur, I wondered exactly what I was going to say. He saved me from making that decision.

"Come to start training, onna?" he asked, stopping from his exercises.

"No. I don't think I should start just yet."

"Why is that?"

"Because…remember what happened yesterday when I came up the stairs?"

"You were having breathing troubles."

"Right. Now imagine what would happen if I did some actual exercise."

"You won't have to do any real exercise."

"…"

"You start with stretching. You aren't nearly limber enough to start learning how to use a sword or fight at all."

Natalie came running up with Kurama and the boys. "Hey! Wait up!"

"What's going on?" I asked.

"We're having lunch later. Right now, Kurama wants me to start training."

"Same with me and Hiei, and he wants me to start with stretching. He says I'm not 'limber' enough." I put extra emphasis on the word "limber" and gave her a look that said "he asked for it." She replied by saying-

"You show him, girl." And with that I bent backwards until I was in a bridge position. Then I walked toward my hands until my hands and feet were touching and straightened my legs and arms so that my back was almost bent entirely in half. After a few moments of cheering and catcalling from Yusuke and Kuwabara and clapping from Yukina, I threw my legs up in a handstand position and then dropped them again, standing up straight.

"Well?" I asked, looking at Hiei.

But he wasn't there. Next thing I knew, I was flying through the air and then landing unceremoniously on the ground, knocking the wind out of me. I coughed and gasped. Hiei came to a stop right next to me and smirked. "You did all that just to fall flat on your face."

I glared at him with all the willpower I could muster. He only lifted an eyebrow. Natalie helped me stand up while I continued to splutter and cough.

"Being limber doesn't mean being flexible," Hiei continued. "It means being able to move any way you might need to whenever you need to."

"(Cough) (cough) Got it. (cough) (cough)" I waited until I could breathe again, then flicked him off.

"Oooooh!" said Natalie, "She's pissed."

"Got that right, twerp," I told him. "I understand what you're saying, but you could have just told me that instead of giving me a taste of flying and falling. You're lucky that-" Suddenly I was blown back a couple feet by an invisible hand, and I fainted.

…_I was hopping from tree to tree, one thought repeating itself in my head…death, kill, blood, fun. I hopped onto a roof and peered at the couple inside. The female was fixing something to eat, and the male was reading a newspaper on a couch and watching a glowing box called a television. I grinned and drooled as I saw the blood pumping through their bodies. I opened the way for their blood to flow free and slurped greedily at the red liquid, relishing the fear and pain I saw in the couple's eyes. Then I ate out their hearts and hopped gaily to the next house, where I again peered in through the window and watched the children inside play, while the adults watched them as well. I did the same thing, making sure I ate the children last, so that I could taste more fear in their innocent little souls as I devoured them. I continued until I had visited the last house, then thought proudly over my fine work. There was a panic throughout America as the mutilated bodies were found._

"_Excellent. And so it begins."…_

I came around to see many worried faces looking down at me. My breathing became ragged as I remembered what I had just seen. "No…no, no….no, no, NO! I … I have to … KOENMAAAAAAAA!" A scream erupted from and tore my throat as I screeched for help.

_My family was in danger._


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter 8**

**Mourning Love**

"Sarah! What happened!" yelled Natalie.

As I yelled out the contents of my vision, I felt myself going into hysterics. I couldn't control anything.

"Sarah, Sarah honey, come back…come back to us." Natalie was shaking me. The guys just stood there, unsure of what on earth was going on. "Sarah! It wasn't you. Sarah, listen to me. It WASN'T YOU! You were in someone else's mind and body. IT WASN'T YOU! Listen to me, come on…snap out of it…come back to us." Throughout it all I was hyperventilating and saying things like "I killed them. I can't … I KILLED THEM ALL! I'm a MONSTER! PLEASE, JUST KILL ME! DON'T LET ME DO IT!" I could barely even hear Natalie's pleas for me to come back. All I could think of was what I had done. I felt reality grow dimmer and dimmer as I sank into despair and shock and sadness. Suddenly, a sharp pain filled my face, and a small part of me knew what had happened.

Someone had slapped me.

My sobs lessened and I stopped shouting and pleading for my own death. But soon I started going back.

They slapped me again.

I saw Natalie's face clear as day, stained with tears of worry and a desperate expression on her face.

I was slapped a third time.

This time I saw my attacker and wasn't surprised to see Hiei's hand retreating from my face. As I looked up at him (I was still sitting on the ground) I saw something I never thought I'd see on his face.

Concern.

It was immediately replaced by his usual hard expression. That brought me back all the way, and I saw everyone's faces: Yusuke – purely shocked, Kuwabara – shocked and confused, Kurama – concern and worry, Yukina – frightened and worried, Natalie – fearful, sad, desperate, and worried-

And Hiei – concerned and hard. His usually glaring eyes widened in shock. His hand poised to strike me again. But one look at my face now and they all knew.

I was back.

Then, I immediately recalled my vision. "I need to see Koenma NOW! I've GOT to get back to my world before-"

"I'm afraid it won't help," came a horribly familiar voice as the baby Koenma popped into the air above us. "I'm afraid that I bear some terrible news, Sarah."

I was too late. I hadn't seen the future, but the present. As realization sunk into me, I didn't even hear Koenma as he told me what I already knew, and Botan came soaring down on her oar. I felt all feeling flee from my body; all emotion was gone. My family was gone.

Forever.

No matter when I got back to my world – if ever – I would have nothing to go back to.

Nothing.

Some part of my consciousness took in the comforting embraces of Natalie and Kurama. The consoling looks from Yusuke, Kuwabara, Yukina, Botan, and Koenma. But the one thing that I noticed – that I fully noticed with all of my being – was the look of knowing from Hiei. He knew the pain that was being suppressed inside me right now. The feeling of nothingness that the shock of reality had brought upon me at this moment.

I felt myself rise to my feet and walk away into the woods, leaving behind all the sad faces, all the pain, and all hope. I felt as though I had nothing. Nothing to look back on, nothing to look forward to. My legs carried me to the edge of that same little stream, but nothing seemed peaceful about it now. I felt as though nothing would ever happen again. Nothing good, nothing bad. Neither meaningless nor of great consequence. There was only that hidden pain raging calmly inside me at that moment.

And then it came.

The barrier protecting me from the horrible pain of losing everything gave way, and my knees broke out from under me. I fell as the uncontrollable sobs came. I roared at the heavens and beat the earth beneath and around me, punishing it and myself, hoping to replace this emotional pain with another pain. Anything to get rid of the tumultuous waves, crashing into every corner of my mind and heart. I cried and sobbed, ripped and tore, screamed and roared. It felt like it went on for hours, days even. All I wanted was to release everything being held inside me so that I could live and forget. No pain of dying that I had felt before was fit to stand next to this torture. It was…

Unbearable. More so than anything I had ever felt summed up together.

It took countless eternities for my sobs to ease, and then it was only because I had no more tears to cry. The pain still racked inside of me and nothing could heal it. Soon, I was retaken by that overwhelming feeling of empty space. Nothingness surrounded me once more as my contorted face melted into one of no emotion. I simply sat there, staring at the water, and realized that the sun was going down. I had cried the afternoon away, and now I was dry. Both in eye and in emotion. I sat watching the sunset, and then realized that I had to go inside and face the team now. So I crawled over to the stream itself and splashed away the tear stains and the new blood streaks from where I had beaten the earth, cringing slightly at the sting.

As I walked back to the temple door, I prepared myself for their comments. I walked through the door to find everyone, including Koenma and Botan, in the large room connected to the kitchen. They were silent as I entered the room, and all eyes turned to me. All was silent and still for a moment, then Natalie came up and embraced me, followed by Kurama, and then Botan and Yukina. Yusuke and Kuwabara came up and each put a hand on my shoulder. I'd had enough.

"Please, stop," I said, pushing them off of me gently. "I don't like this kind of thing. I just wanted to ask if it was okay if I slept outside tonight. I really like that little stream just outside." Kurama turned to Hiei and nodded to me. "Thank you." I looked back at them. "Hey, guys?" They looked up. "Get some sleep," I gave a small smile. "I'll be fine, really. I just need a good night's sleep. So…good night."

"Good night." Everyone reflected my small smile. I realized that their faces also mirrored my own sadness. I needed to get out of here. I couldn't take any more pain and I wasn't about to start crying again (not that I could). I left the room and walked back out the door. As I walked along the stream in the shallow part of the water, I did the one thing I could think of to do to ease the pain, the feeling of nothingness.

I sang.

As I finished the song, I was amazed to feel my face wet. I had been so sure that I was done crying, but singing released all of those emotions, all the tension, all of … everything.

And it felt so _good_.

Singing always seemed to have this effect on me. I always felt at peace when singing out in the open. So I started another song.

And so I kept singing, song after song, until finally I drifted off to sleep.

…_Burning, metal falling, crashing, explosions, screaming, running, jumping out of windows, panic, pain, death, HELP!..._

I sat up gasping to find Hiei's face in front of mine.

"What were you dreaming about, onna?"

"Huh?"

"You were twitching and gasping and rolling over like a sick dog."

"Gee, thanks. And I was just dreaming about one of my past visions." Seeing that Hiei wasn't satisfied, I continued. "It was the first one I ever got. Have you ever heard of the September 11th attack?" He shook his head 'no.' "Well, in North America, about 5 years ago-

(Switching to normal POV, but it's Hiei's POV in 3rd person)

As he listened to the girl speak of the September 11th attack on something called the World Trade Center, his hate for the filthy ningens deepened. Those creatures were despicable, killing off their own kind for no apparent reason. He realized that demons were the same way, but…they were demons…so…that made everything different…right?

His focused shifted back to the onna as she finished retelling the tragic event. "I wasn't sure what to think when I saw it. That had been the first time that anything weird like that happened. I was home sick the next day. Repercussions, I guess. And then, I was watching the news and…it happened…just like I'd seen it. And when the second plane hit I…I threw up. I remembered everything that had happened in my dream and I knew exactly what those people were feeling as they…as they died. Hardly any of them were thinking of themselves. They were all thinking about what they were leaving behind, from a garden to a pregnant wife or dying husband or child." She looked up at him. "Oh, Gah. I'm sorry, Hiei. I'm practically spilling my guts to you and you probably don't give a care. Just…I'm sorry." He could tell that she was going to cry again, and…he found that he didn't want that.

"No," he said sternly. "I know what it feels like to see such things."

"I know."

"No, onna, you don't."

"Actually, I do. You're forgetting that I know everything about you. Including everything you've been through."

This caught him off guard. But she couldn't possibly know everything. She wouldn't dare even look at him. Much less speak to him.

"Tell me." He had to know how much she knew.

She took a deep breath and began. "Okay, we'll start with your birth. When you were born a male, the Ice Maidens decreed that you would one day rise and destroy them all. So they forced a friend of your mother's to throw you off of a cliff. She didn't want to, and your mother had to be held back. The women who threw you over only did so after giving you a small necklace with one of your mother's tear gems on it and asking that when you returned, that you would kill her first. Somehow, you survived, and were found floating in a river by a group of thieves. They only kept you because of the valuable tear gem that you would not give up, even as a baby. As they raised you, you developed a blood lust, and found that other demons would attack you because they wanted the gem. So, you decided to wear it in the open, to give you more chances to kill people.

"This continued until one day, none of the thieves trusted you anymore, because they believed that you would kill them too. So you decided to go off on your own. Other demons continued to try and steal away your necklace, and one day, one of them succeeded in cutting it off of your neck and it fell into a river. You then realized just how much you cared about it, and went to a man with many piercings and a unique sword technique.

"He's the one who gave you your Jagan Eye.

"You wanted it to help you look for your necklace. But first you paid a visit to the now visible Ice Maidens, with every intention to kill. Once you got there, however, you saw that it was like it was ice running through their veins instead of blood, and you no longer wanted to kill…because they were already dead. After that, you found out about your sister.

"Yukina was the next person you used your Jagan to look for, but then you teamed up with Goki and Kurama in the meantime. And I've already said the rest. You're still dealing with that same bloodlust and absolute disgust and hate of humans." He stared at her for several moments, unable to move or run like he wanted to. She really did know everything about him. But…

"I know what you're thinking," she continued. "You're wondering why I'm not running, right?" He said nothing. "I'm not afraid of you because there's nothing to be afraid of. The only people that scare me are those who are heartless, cold-blooded murderers. You think of yourself as a heartless monster. Hiei Jaganshi, you may see a lot of things, but you can't even see into your own heart. Even through all of that, you were still able to do the one thing that most demons can't find it in themselves to do.

"Love."

"You loved that necklace. You love your sister. And whether you accept it or not, you love every member of your team. You love Kurama as a best friend, something you never dreamed of having. He's given you more than anyone else ever has. You love Yusuke as a friend and a powerful leader. He trusted you whole-heartedly at the Gate of Betrayal without hesitation, even though he'd just fought you when you tried to kill him and make his girlfriend a demon. And in some…unfathomable…freakish…unbelievably strange way…you love Kuwabara for his strength and loyalty, even if you hate him for his stupidity.

"Face it, Hiei. Your heart is just as big as all of the others', if not bigger for being able to love after all that you've been through. You've always thought that you were alone in the world, but the truth is, you will _never_ be alone. Because you have _friends_. Better yet, you have a _family_. And you just made two more friends. Me and Natalie.

"You might not consider us friends, but I always will. Friendship is willing to do anything for your friend, as does family. And I would willingly _die_ for you or any of the others, Hiei. And I know that Natalie would, too. You have more friends than you know. And unlike those thieves or anyone else that you've lost, this friend-" she pointed to herself "-is here to stay. We love you, Hiei, because you're strong, faithful, just, and _caring_. And I don't need a _Jagan_ to see that."

Hiei just stood there, not moving and not sure if he even wanted to anymore. What she had just said…no one had ever…treated him so…he didn't even know the right way to put it in his thoughts. She said everything with such meaning that he knew that she wasn't just conning him like he wouldn't usually thought (plus, with all of the trauma lately, her block was down and he could easily see into her mind. What he saw made his heart stop.

She meant it.

Every word of it.

She thought of him not as a demon, a killer, a fighter, a teammate, or anything of the sort. She simply saw him for his _heart_. He could see the trust and sincerity in her blue-grey eyes (I don't think I ever mentioned her eye color before). And he felt his blood rushing as he looked at those ocean-colored orbs. His heartbeat quickened as he wondered what the heck this was. Whatever it was, he wasn't so sure that he liked it. He almost felt…

_Vulnerable._ And he _definitely_ didn't like that feeling. If she would just stop _looking_ at him, maybe he could get a chance to _think_! He noticed that she wanted him to say something. So he said the first rational thing he could think of.

"You seem to have recovered quickly."

At the immediate look of pain and sadness on her face, he wanted nothing more than to stuff those words back down his throat. Wait…why did he even _care_ if he hurt Sarah's…um…the onna's feelings? His thoughts were interrupted by her next words, and he found that he was listening to her very closely. WHY?

"If I've learned anything from all I've been through, it's to mourn quickly and get it over with. Get back to my life and don't let depression take me. I live by these words: 'Life is too good to waste, even if most things in it aren't.'" She looked to her left and he followed her gaze to see the sun breaking through. She looked back at him and smiled. "Would you mind meditating with me?"

He shrugged and thought how he'd like to spend a bit more time with her. _Wait…WHAT!?_ He was about to leave and think this whole thing over when she smiled again.

"Thanks." He was staying.

So they meditated, but Hiei couldn't focus on breathing. _This is pathetic! I'm starting to act like a silly human. Unbelievable!_

As the sun rose, they sat there. Sarah meditating and Hiei scolding himself for … whatever he was doing. And then, the sun was up, and Sarah stood up, saying something about her stomach growling. Hiei realized she hadn't eaten since that bag of chips and grape soda from yesterday at the mall.

"Then you should eat something." He found himself saying.

"Yeah. I'll probably just have a giant bowl of Special K."

"Hn." So he followed her back into the temple and prepared himself to face the Fox, who he knew had been listening the whole time.

_Hn. Damn kitsune. Maybe if I ask him first, I'll avoid the whole thing._

_He better not laugh!_


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter 9**

Hiei growled as the redhead laughed his head off. He had never seen this mature, always calm and collected demon lose his head like this.

"Kurama, I've said it once and I'll say it again. _Don't make me rip out your precious voice box!_" This only made the redhead laugh harder, but the comment was heard and he calmed down quite quickly.

"Hmhmhmhm. I'm sorry Hiei. Haha, it's just that I never thought I'd see the great and powerful outwardly emotionless Hiei fall in _love_! Hahahaha."

"What are you talking about, Fox…" said Hiei sternly and heavily.

"Hiei, listen to me. Your heart was pounding when she looked at you. I looked inside your mind and all of your thoughts pointed to the same thing. HER! Hiei, face it, _you're in LOVE!_"

"Please, like I would actually succumb to such idiotic human emotions."

"Hiei, it makes perfect sense. I heard every word she said to you and it's perfectly logical that she would make you feel this way. Honestly, I'd be willing to say that she knows much more about what's inside you than _you_ do. Or even _I_ do."

"…"

"Tell me, Hiei. Did you feel at all guilty when you said something that made her feel worse?"

"…"

"And did you feel confused about what you were feeling? Because it was something you'd never felt before?"

"…"

"And when she was about to cry again, did you want to make her feel better?"

"…"

"Did your face heat up?"

"Fox…" Hiei said warningly.

"Well did it?"

"…Hn."

"Hiei, there is nothing wrong with being in love. You think of it as a weakness, but look at how many times Yusuke and Kuwabara and I have used it to our advantage. Whenever someone we loved was in danger, we had more of a reason to be stronger and therefore became so. You've even become so yourself when Yukina was in danger and when Sensui killed Yusuke. As well as when I myself was in danger-"

"Alright, Fox, I get it."

"…"

"..."

"…"

"…So…what do I do now?"

"I say find out if she feels the same about you. I believe that she does, but you may want to hear it for yourself. I would suggest…"

"Fox?"

The redhead said nothing but had a far off look. Then Hiei felt it too…A powerful demonic aura coming this way.

"SARAH!" They yelled at the same time.

They rushed out of the room and searched for Sarah's own life energy. She was in the woods and getting further away.

And the demon was retreating with her.

(_Flashback – Sarah's POV)_

As I walked with Hiei, I was almost scared by how quickly I had been able to mourn. Sure, it still hurt, but it wasn't nearly as unbearably painful or traumatic as it had been just last night. And something else was nagging at me, too.

I WAS STARVING!

My stomach was growling FURIOUSLY and I noticed Hiei glancing at me a lot, so I know he heard it. That and he said, "Is that your stomach or a demonic carnivore?" I laughed at this, and he seemed satisfied with himself. I wondered why…

We entered the huge temple (yet again), and I was about to ask Hiei if he would like to join me for breakfast, but when I looked behind myself, he was already gone. I guessed that was good. He probably needed time to think about what I had just told him. I don't think that I had _ever_ been that deep and made a speech _that heartfelt_ before. I really hoped that I hadn't gone too far. What if he thought me an idiot for saying those things? Oh well, it had taken everything I could muster to tell him those things, so I really hoped that he took them to heart.

Anyway, as I walked into the kitchen, I took a bowl out from the same cupboard Kurama had used before, found the cereal, and poured the milk substitute into it. I grabbed a spoon and starting stuffing my breakfast into my mouth.

"Hungry, are we?" came a voice. I yelped in surprise and turned to see Yusuke grinning down on me. I smiled.

"I'm starving. I didn't have any dinner last night."

"So um…h-how are you doing?"

I smiled again, but not quite as widely. "Pretty good, considering. I'll be fine, don't worry. As I told Hiei, if there's one thing I've learned from my visions, it's how to mourn quickly and get on with life. Sure, I'll always be sad, but I'm not exactly the type to dwell in the past."

"Glad to hear it!" he said, smiling again and clapping me in the back, making me choke on my cereal. As I spluttered, he apologized repeatedly and said something about "not knowing his own strength."

"A little (cough) arrogant (cough) aren't we (cough cough cough cough)!"

"Yeah, well, I think that I have a perfectly good reason to be arrogant, considering how many times I've saved the three worlds from certain destruction!"

"Aren't we getting a little too superhero comic book here? And just because you have a right to be proud of yourself, you don't have to be an arrogant moron."

"Grrrr. I liked you better when you were saying good things about me."

"No duh," I retorted, then realized that the sun was almost up and my hat was nowhere in sight. "Uh oh," I said, putting my dishes in the sink, "I left my hat outside. Be right back!" With that, I waved to the detective and ran out to the stream.

Once I was out there, I started looking for my hat. I found it by the water's edge where I had slept the night before. As I put it on, I immediately knew that something wasn't right. Suddenly, a sharp pain entered my neck, and I passed out.

_(End flashback – normal POV)_

As the five of them (the team and Natalie, who was riding piggy-back on Kurama) raced through the forest, tracking Sarah's life energy – as the demon was now hiding his – as it continued to travel farther and farther away from the safety of the temple, Natalie, Kurama, Hiei, and Kuwabara were viciously berating Yusuke for his stupidity.

"Why do think I was sent out to keep an eye on her at all times you _imbecile_!" demanded Hiei once again as more of a rhetorical question.

"ANYTHING could be happening to her right now!" screamed Natalie, about to lose her mind with rage and worry.

"If you knew that she was going to go outside the confines of the temple, you should have followed her!" scolded Kurama.

"URAMESHI! This beats ANY stupid thing I've ever done by a LONG SHOT! Do you know what might happen if that demon KILLS HER!?" yelled Kuwabara.

"Guys, I'm SORRY! How was _I_ supposed to know that there was demon coming!?"

"By sensing its _aura_, you _fool_!" spat the fire demon. Countless images of what that demon could be doing to Sarah by now flooded his mind and he was absolutely _enraged_ by the _baka_ detective's mistake. He also knew perfectly well what would happen if Sarah died.

That demon would be able to steal away the White Phoenix and its powers.

Finally, their prey halted about twenty-five miles away. Relieved, they picked up their pace, giving Yusuke a break for now.

_(Switching to Sarah's POV)_

I opened my eyes to find myself staring at the sky. I had a huge headache and stiff neck as I discovered when I tried to stand up. As soon as I was completely on my feet, a _horrible_ pain entered my stomach and I found myself pinned to a tree-

A sword through my stomach.

I screamed in agony as blood poured from my body and mouth and I was blind-folded, my hands tied to the hilt of the sword that had skewered me. A terribly silky voice filled my ears and I gritted my teeth both from fear and pain.

"I finally have you, little Bird. Now, the question is – what shall I do with you and how should I kill you?" He giggled disgustingly at his last words. "I do so _love_ to torture. By the way, tell me child-

"_Did you like what I did to your loved ones?_"

So HE was the one who did it. HE'S the one who DESTROYED ALL of my connections to MY world. I felt my head cloud with indescribable anger and loathing and a need for revenge.

"They were the first humans I ever _tasted_, and _now_ I may make your species a _daily meal._ They were _quite_ the _delicacy_. The blood _sweeter_ and _richer_ than that of any _demon_. Their hearts more _lush_ and _juicy_, too." He was dragging out every syllable with that smooth and silky voice. I knew he was just trying to make me hurt more, torture me until I told him to get it over with.

I would _not_ give him that.

"Tell me, because I _simply must _know – _how long_ did you cry and despair when Koenma_ told_ you? Just _how_ much did it _hurt_?" This guy was asking the _dumbest_ questions and it was _really _pissing me off.

"Anyway, back to the matter at _hand_. Hmmm, let's see. I KNOW!" I heard him snap his fingers. "I'll kill your little _friends_, too. I should start with the _healer_."

"IF YOU GO ANYWHERE _NEAR HER_ I _SWEAR_ I WILL _MURDER YOU_!" He had struck a chord and he knew it. He began giggling uncontrollably again.

"Oh! Oh! I KNOW! Then, I should take out the heart of the _Dragon himself_. Why, I would be _famous_!"

"JUST SHUT UUUUUUUPPPPPPPPPP!" I screamed at the top of my lungs. All of the sudden, my head cleared, and I felt-

Stronger. More confident. I could think clearer, and I knew that I could defeat him.

Just like Jack Gordon.

I realized that I was chuckling, because the demon said "What's so funny?"

"I'll give you a choice. One; you untie me and run away as fast as you can. Two; die!"

"And why would _I_ run _away_ from _you_?"

"Hmhmhm."

"…"

"_BECAUSE YOU JUST MADE ME MAD!"_

_(Switching to normal POV)_

"Can't we go any _faster_?" voiced Natalie.

"Relax. We're nearly there," Kurama comforted.

"How long?"

"…OOF!…now."

They hit a huge wall of energy that surrounded a clearing. After the five stood up and got ready to fight, they saw that they could never get through the wall. This was a very powerful demon.

"SPIRIT GUN!" Yusuke yelled, firing his Reigun at the giant bowl-shaped barrier. It bounced back and nearly hit him.

"What do we do?" whined Kuwabara.

"We can't do anything. We simply have to hope that help comes," said Kurama, not at all happy. Suddenly, a horrible scream echoed through the trees.

Hiei charged at the barrier again, only to bounce back and land on his back ten feet back. "We HAVE to get THROUGH this damn thing!" he said through gritted teeth.

"Hiei, there's nothing we can do," the redhead explained. It hurt all of them to know that Sarah was in there. And it shocked most of them to see Hiei so uncharacteristically reckless and angry.

"LOOK!" said Natalie, now on the ground. The boys followed her pointing finger and saw Sarah, pinned to a tree with a sword through stomach, blood flowing through the wound and her gritted teeth. She was blindfolded and bound to the hilt of the sword. Hiei would give anything to help her just then, but even if they fired the Dragon at the barrier, the attack would be deflected. They soon saw her kidnapper, and he was at least as tall and muscular as Toguro at 100% and had an extraordinarily powerful aura about him. Yet, he didn't look as monstrous as Toguro had. Actually, he almost looked…suave. He had a large patch of something mirror-like on each limb and on the main portion of his back. Clearly his power was one of deflecting others' attacks.

They could hear every word being said, so they just listened with horror as the found out that he was the reason Sarah was now an orphan. As soon as the barrier went down, Hiei was going to kill that bastard.

Then, they heard the demon threaten Natalie, and Kurama growled menacingly while Sarah screamed at him at the top of her voice.

Then, he threatened Hiei, and her voice heightened (if possible), and…something else did, too.

They all felt her life energy race up so that it was like she had the lives and souls of thousands of people inside her. It wasn't demonic energy nor angelic nor entirely human. It was just life energy and her psychic energy. They focused all their attention on the girl inside the dome as a change came over her. She stopped yelling, and she seemed to calm down, although that energy level stayed the same. She began chuckling to everyone's amazement. When the demon demanded to know what was so funny, she replied inaudibly. Then, they heard these words loud and clear:

"_BECAUSE YOU JUST MADE ME MAD!"_

Suddenly, they watched in shock and amazement as she focused all of that new energy into her blood. The blood that was on the sword. Then, so quickly that only a demon could follow it (and Kuwabara), she withdrew the sword from her stomach, let it slip so it cut her bindings, then thrust the sword into the demon's body. She was smirking. And so was the demon.

"Hnhnhnhnhn. Do you really think that a simple _sword_ in my _gut_ would _hurt me_? You're _pathetic_!"

"Oh please. You don't know what pain is." Her hands were still on the sword, and she thrust it farther in.

"_I HAVE SUFFERED THOUSANDS OF DEATHS!_" She began pushing him back. "_I HAVE BEEN BURNED, FROZEN, SUFFOCATED, AND DROWNED!"_ She took another step. "_I HAVE BEEN SLICED AND BUTCHERED TO PIECES AND RIPPED APART BY TORNADOES AND SANDSTORMS AND WAVES!"_ Another step. "_I HAVE BEEN MURDERED BY MY FRIENDS AND FAMILY, HAD MY LIMBS TIED TO HORSES AND THEN PULLED OFF, SAVING MY HEAD FOR LAST!"_ Yet another step. "_I HAVE BEEN WHIPPED, CUT, CHOPPED, SLICED, BURNED, RIPPED, TORN, FROZEN, CRUSHED, AND DIED IN ANY IMAGINABLE WAY EXCEPT THE ONE WHERE YOU DIE PEACEFULLY IN YOUR SLEEP AT A RIPE OLD AGE! AND __**YOU**__ THINK YOU CAN SPEAK TO __**ME**__ ABOUT __**PAIN!**__"_

She stopped moving toward him, but kept tight hold of the sword. The demon looked genuinely afraid now. Apparently he could feel the rising energy as well. She began to speak again, only this time calmer.

"Now my blood has mixed with yours, and therefore my _curse_ is yours, and once it awakens…YOU WILL _DIE!_" With that, she withdrew the sword and stepped back. Immediately, blood spurted from various parts of the demon's body and he screamed and twitched and clawed and writhed on the ground in pain. Many parts of his body became consumed in fire and both legs separated from the torso with a sucking pop. His eyes rolled to the back of his now disembodied head.

He was dead.

The barrier disappeared, but none of the five outside of it moved or said anything or even breathed as Sarah walked up to the remains of her tormentor, picked up his head by his black hair, and said-

"You really _are_ weak. That wasn't even a _tenth_ of what I've been through." She then spit in his eye and threw the head away. Then, her energy decreased until it was back to normal again, and she took off the blindfold (that had been over her eyes throughout it all) and stared emotionally at the wound in her stomach as the blood stopped flowing and it cleaned and healed itself.

Then, she fainted.

(_Time gap – Sarah's POV_)

My eyes fluttered open and I saw that I was in my room and on the bottom bunk of the bunk bed. I looked to the side to see Hiei sitting in a chair; asleep by the looks of it. Memory flooded into me and my body shook with fear.

I had killed another person.

No. He was not a person. He was a monster that deserved to die and I could not scold myself for taking another life, especially when he had taken so many lives already. I sat up and felt a dull pain in my stomach, which would be sore for a few more days. Hiei's eyes opened, and I just sat there, staring at him staring at me. Finally, he spoke.

"How are you feeling, Onna?"

"Fine."

"…"

"…"

"…What happened back there, Onna?"

"…I got mad. When something gets me exceptionally mad, I feel my head clear and I get stronger…I got mad."

"…"

"…How long was I asleep?'

"Only 24 hours. The fox has finished that cream and potion for you, so we'll start training tomorrow."

"What time is it?"

"11:30 at night."

"…I'm sorry for worrying you."

"…It's…okay, Onna….Why didn't you…get mad when the other onna was threatened?"

"I did."

"But not enough."

"…Because she wasn't the one that I was thinking about the most right then."

"…Who were you thinking about?"

I turned my head away from him, afraid that I wasn't going to be able suppress the truth. I couldn't say it, and yet I did.

"You."

"…Why me?"

"Because…" I turned my body so it faced the wall entirely, willing myself not to say it, even though I knew I was going to anyway. Besides-

Some part of me wanted to say it. So I did.

"…I care about you, Hiei. A lot."

He didn't say anything. Didn't move, didn't speak. So neither did I.

The words came to my lips in the softest of whispers before I could stop them.

"I think…that I love you."


	10. Chapter 10

**Chapter 10**

**Confessions and Training Don't Mix**

I lay there, thinking about what had happened a few hours ago and wondering if I really should have told him. After I had said everything, Hiei had just gotten up and left without saying a word. I hadn't turned to look at his face, so I didn't see his reaction. I sighed. _Oh well, I said what I meant to say and there's nothing I can do about it now except wait._ I kept telling myself that over and over, but inside, I was falling apart. In reality, I had taken his silence as rejection. But another part of me knew that Hiei would have reacted that way whether he felt the same way about me or not.

I got up out of bed to see the sun almost up. I looked up at the top bunk, and then remembered that Natalie wasn't in the room. I found her with Kurama, Yusuke, and Kuwabara in the big room connected to the kitchen.

"Unh…hey," I greeted them sleepily. They looked at me, then away. This confused me.

"What?" Then I noticed that they were all blushing. I looked at myself in a mirror across the room to see my hair a total mess, my shirt bloody in the stomach area, various stains of both dirt and blood on my face, neck, and hands (most of it not mine) and…AHH MAN!

There was a huge line of snot going from my nose across my cheek to my ear.

DID I LOOK LIKE THIS WHEN I CONFESSED TO HIEI?

I screamed and ran from the room into the kitchen, where I quickly washed away the blood and dirt and dried snot, then raked my fingers through my hair. I washed the ripped and bloody clothing as quickly as I could. Then, I took one last look in the mirror and decided that I looked presentable. When I walked back out, Kurama had something – make that two things – in his hands. One was a bowl of some sort of skin-colored cream, and the other was a cup of rather foul-smelling liquid. I smiled when I realized what they were.

"MY CURES!" I screamed happily as I engulfed Kurama in a back-breaking hug, being careful not to make him drop the objects. As I let go, he said-

"All you have to do is drink the potion once, and your body will be permanently immune to all allergens. As far as the cream, you must apply one coat to any part of your body that might receive sunlight once a day for the next week before it will have a permanent affect. I believe I made enough for that."

"That's it?" I asked.

"That is it."

"Thank you so much!" I squealed, hugging him again and taking the potion from his hand. I gulped it down right then and there with a sour face. Then, I took the bowl of cream up to my room and applied it. It was extraordinarily liquidy and soaked into my skin as soon as I finished smearing it on. I watched in amazement as my usually translucent skin took on a slightly darker shade. Then I quickly changed into a non-ripped black cami and light-weight black jacket and sweatpants and went down to meet them. What I saw surprised me.

Koenma and Botan were there, too.

Botan turned to me with a cheery smile and greeting. Koenma was simply floating in the air as usual. I decided to say something. "Umm…is there something you guys wanna tell me?"

"Actually, yes," Koenma started. "About that demon you fought a couple days ago…" Uh oh. "His name was Noriyori and he was on the Spirit World's Top Ten Most Wanted list. He was, in fact, an A-class demon."

I felt my jaw drop. "Are you freaking kidding me!?" I yelled.

"I would not 'kid' about something like this. The fact that you defeated him single-handedly and rather easily – if I'm told correctly – is very interesting. Also, the fact that you already have control over one of the Phoenix's powers-"

"Define 'control,'" I interrupted.

"-Is rather surprising and to be perfectly honest, it's unsettling," he continued, completely ignoring me. "So, just to be sure, we will be sending you a few other teachers who will be able to train you in other areas of the Phoenix's power, whether you control them yet or not. I also believe that Genkai has completed her mission, so she may be able to train you as well, as I believe that some of your light-bending power may be connected to psychic abilities. She may also help you gain better control of your premonitions." Hope surged within me at that. Finally, someone who could help me!

"When does she get here?" I asked excitedly.

"They will _all_ get here later today."

"AWESOME!" I yelled, laughing with joy. "Well, let's get this show on the road. Who's my first teacher?" I remembered Hiei at that, and my hope dimmed, then brightened again when I decided that it didn't matter if he didn't "like" me right away. Something inside me said that he would eventually. I liked that idea.

"I am!" yelled Yusuke enthusiastically, reminding me that I had just asked a question.

"Sweet. Well, let's start!"

"Follow me!"

"You sure that's a safe idea?" I asked, giggling. The others joined me. Yusuke just slouched and started heading outside once again. As soon as we got to the training spot, Kurama and Kuwabara declared that they were going to start teaching Natalie some stuff, and Koenma and Botan said that they needed to take care of some "pressing matters" in Spirit World.

"Well, kid, it looks like it's just you and me," Yusuke said, hands on hips and trying to look like Genkai.

"You know, that would be a lot more comforting if you weren't such a dimwit," I responded, starting to laugh again.

"Watch it, girly, I'm still your teacher." He wagged his finger at me.

"I thought we agreed that I would be teaching her first." A black blur materialized in front of Yusuke, and there stood Hiei, hands in pockets, back to me. I felt myself blushing immediately.

"Oh right, well, since you weren't around, I thought I'd-"

"Whatever, Detective. I'm around now so I will take over this so-called lesson."

"You got it, Hiei." With that, the Spirit Detective ran off to join Natalie and the others.

He stood there for a few moments, with his back still to me. I could feel my face burning up.

"The first thing you should learn is how to fall when either thrown back or dropped," he started, turning to face me, but not looking me in the eye. Without another moment's hesitation, he sped up and hit me – _hard_ – in the middle of my stomach, sending me flying upwards about fifteen feet. Luckily, I came to my senses as I reached the peak of the arc and switched positions on my way down so that I landed on one knee…although none-too-gracefully. I felt a pounding pain in both legs as I made contact with the ground.

"Not bad," he said without feeling.

"Ya know, you didn't have to hit me so hard. I mean, I _am_ still sore from yesterday."

Before I knew it I was flying through the air again. This time I had expected it, so I stayed in a standing position with my arms up and one knee bent as I came down, then as soon as my foot touched the earth, I brought everything down to the proper landing position on one knee without hurting myself.

"Very good." Same toneless voice. "Now you need to know how to stop yourself when thrown completely backwards." And without giving me time to brace myself, he pounded into me, sending me straight backwards. I ended up doing a back-flip before I regained my composure and planted my feet into the dirt and leaning as far forward as was needed, sending my arms out to the side to act as a parachute. I skidded to a halt before dropping to my knees. I was definitely going to need hardier shoes.

"Well done." His body was at least thirty feet away now and my skid marks lasted a little more than half of that distance. My chest and stomach hurt terribly, but I'd felt worse than that and was able to ignore it. The next thing I knew, I was being carried up into the tallest trees, everything around me a green blur. It was _amazing_; going this fast! I felt so _free_. "You know how to fall from a height, but there will be times when a foe will be falling with you. No matter what, you must do your best to stay above him."

And then we were falling through the air and I was looking up at the sky past Hiei's face. It was so confusing. Then I remembered Hiei's words and tried my best to rotate while trying to breathe through the intense pressure of falling so fast and far. I succeeded, only to have him rotate us once more so that he was on top again. I didn't have enough time to rotate him again, so all I could think of to do was hold onto him as we continued our free-fall. I had to admit it. I was afraid of falling.

Then Hiei did something totally unexpected. He rotated us again before I could blink and he took the major portion of the fall as we hit and rolled over on the ground several times before coming to a stop. Even though he had been below me as we hit the ground, we had rolled so that I was underneath him again. My face heated up as I took in the situation and could only think of one thing to say.

"You're still really heavy."

The next thing that Hiei did made my heart pound against my chest so that I was sure he could feel it.

He placed his hands on the ground on either side of my head and pushed so that most of his weight was on his hands.

But he was still pressed up against me. Through half-lidded eyes that were looking me straight in my wide ones for the first time today, he said in a raspy voice-

"Better?"

Before I could respond, he descended upon me and pressed his lips to mine. Realization sunk in and I felt like I would faint for joy, but I managed to stay conscious and kissed him back. He seemed to take this as an invitation and pried my lips open with his tongue, wrapping it around mine. Without knowing it, I started squirming under him and wrapped my arms around him, caressing his rock-hard back and shoulder muscles. I pulled off his cloak/dress-like thing so I could feel his chest muscles better. He certainly didn't seem to mind, as he had already taken off my jacket.

Done exploring, I wrapped my arms around his neck, pressing us closer together. I still had goosebumps and it was like little waves of electricity shooting through my body so that I wanted to shiver. He was so warm against me, and being sandwiched between him and the ground, I couldn't help but feel safe; protected.

Before, I had wondered if I had actually meant it when I told him I loved him. Now, I had no doubt at all.

And I knew he wanted me.

In that knowledge, I felt complete. I know it sounds cliché, but if something is cliché, then there's a reason for it.

I never wanted this to end.

Our bodies continued to press and move against each other, and I felt something stiffen against my lower stomach (remember he's shorter than me), and it dawned on me that he probably wanted to go further than this. But I found that he wasn't going to. He seemed content with just…this.

_You aren't ready for that yet, Onna._

_Wait, are you reading my mind?_

_What do you think, Onna? You opened your mind to me, so I wanted a look around._

_And you know that I'm not ready?_

_Hn._

_And you're okay with that?_

_Hn. For now._ I felt him smirk against my lips. _But sooner or later..._

With that, he moved his mouth down, kissing and nibbling my jaw-line, then my neck, then started to move down further. I moaned in pleasure as shivers ran down my body where he had left soft little kisses. Before he got too low, though, he came back up and said, or rather thought-

_You get the idea._ His mouth covered mine again and as he nibbled my lip I moaned again. I was still squirming against him, and he moved so he had his weight on his knees and put his hands on either side of my waist, holding me down, making my brow sweat more.

We shared a few more passionate kisses before he pulled back, saying "Someone's coming." He lightly brushed my lips with his one last time before pulling me up with him. I really didn't want to stop then, but knew that it would've had to eventually. In a few moments, the team came through the trees, followed by…

Genkai, Jin, Chuu, Touya, and Rinku.

Genkai spoke first. "If you two are done flirting, we've got some business to discuss." Knowing what was proper, I bowed halfway to the master and said-

"Of course, Master Genkai" with a cheery smile.

"Well isn't that nice? For once I'm shown some respect. You should hang out with the dimwits here more often."

I laughed. "I assume that Koenma has fully explained the situation to you."

"Yes, and that's the only reason I didn't punish him for using my temple without my say-so." The old woman always cracked me up. I giggled again, still slightly "high" from my "training" with Hiei. "I understand that we had an unexpected visitor recently."

"Yes, Master." The giggles stopped.

"And you defeated him somewhat easily it seems."

"If my blood mixes with the opponent's at the same time my psychic abilities surface, I can kill any foe."

"Hmm. Very interesting. I don't think I've ever heard of your kind of psychic ability. Could you describe it to me once more?"

"Sure. Every now and then, my conscience will leave this world and enter another in which someone is dying. Sometimes, I'll be in the mind of a murderer. Otherwise, if it's a suicide, I see it in a 3rd person point of view. If it's an accidental death or something like an explosion or terrorist attack, then I'll be in the mind and body of those who are dying, experiencing everything that they are. I can't control when it happens or what I see, but it's always someone dying."

"From what I've heard, it's always someone dying a rather bloody and dramatic death."

"That is true."

"How long has this been going on?"

"About 5 years, since a terrorist attack on my country in 2001."

"…Very well," said the pink-haired old master. "Continue with your training. As soon as any new powers show up – like the ability to fly – Jin and the others will take over. Natalie?"

"Yes ma'am." The brunette stepped forward.

"You have healing powers, no?"

"So I'm told, but they haven't shown up yet."

"That's not a problem. Usually, powers such as that only surface when they are needed."

"Cool."

Genkai turned back to me. "What have you learned so far?"

Hiei stepped forward. "I'm teaching her defense first."

"Very good, Hiei. You stick with defensive techniques for the week while Yusuke and Chuu will teach her offense. After that, you will begin teaching her how to use a sword, understood?"

"Hn. I don't take orders. I'll only do it because that was my plan to begin with."

I laughed. "Haha. That's Hiei for ya."

"Ya got that right," chimed in Yusuke. "You should've seen him after his fight with Bui, he-"

"You mean how he fainted from exhaustion only after he had threatened you guys?" I finished, laughing slightly.

"You even saw _that_!"

"I've seen it all."

"Man, do you even know what kind of underwear we wear?"

"For Kuwabara, yeah. Remember at that creepy house with the psychics and they had to steal Kuwabara's clothes and you said-" Yusuke joined in with me for the next part.

""At least we've answered _one _question; boxers or briefs. Hahahahahaha!""

"If you're quite done, I think we should get back to work, you nimrods!" yelled Genkai.

"Sorry, Master. I got carried away," I apologized, teary-eyed and still laughing.

And so, me and Hiei continued our training (without physical contact this time as Jin and the others stuck around to watch while Genkai and the rest of the team went back with Natalie). He taught me several more ways to block and defend myself, and I caught on pretty quickly to everyone's amazement. I had several bruises and cuts by the time we were called in for dinner.

Again, I WAS STARVING!

This was possibly the BEST meal I'd EVER had, if only it was the first time that I was able to have all the foods I used to be allergic to. After the main meal, Hiei suggested "sweet snow" for dessert, making everyone laugh. I tried the plain vanilla, and…

It was like falling in love!

Haha. No, just kidding. But it _was_ really good! I could see why Hiei liked it so much. After we finished everything and Kurama and Natalie had done the dishes, everyone sat down in the living room (the one connected to the kitchen) and just started talking about random things. I was talking to Jin and Chuu about the Dark Tournament. Rinku and Kuwabara were chatting and Genkai, Touya, Kurama, Natalie, and Hiei were discussing the best ways to train us. Yusuke and Yukina were nowhere to be found.

After several minutes of just talking, Yusuke, Yukina, and Botan came into the room carrying some…dice?

"Umm, what are those, Botan?" I asked.

"Yeah, and why are you back?" voiced Kuwabara.

"Both excellent questions. These are Truth or Dare dice. And I'm back because we are going to play whether you like it or not."

"I'm sorry!" yelled Yusuke. "I tried to stop her but she's just too convinced that this stupid girly game is fun."

"Stupid?" Natalie yelled.

"Girly?" I protested. "That's it! We're gonna play and YOU'RE first, Yusuke Urameshi!"

"Ah, ah, ah!" said Botan, wagging a finger at me. "We have to play by the rules. This die has the words Truth, Dare, XTruth, XDare, Doubledare, and Twintruth on each side. XTruth and XDare mean you can chose to do the dare or truth or you can simply remove an article of clothing. Doubledare and Twintruth mean that the giver of the dare or truth can chose two people to do it. Regular Truth and Dare simply mean that you must do the Truth or Dare. The other die just has everyone's name on it. Sarah, you can roll first."

I picked up the die with the names and rolled. It landed on Yusuke. "What a coincidence." I let Yusuke roll the other die. It landed on Doubledare. "Oooh, what will I make you do?" I snapped my fingers as an idea popped into my head. "I know. You're gonna hate me forever for this. I dare you and Kuwabara to hold hands, confess your love to each other, and make out. Oh, and it must be convincing."

"WHAT?" Everyone else started laughing hysterically.

"You gotta do it. The dice say so," laughed Chuu, taking a huge swig of his beer bottle.

"You are SO DEAD, NABORS!" Yusuke yelled at me.

They did the dare, both gagging and spitting and coughing and begging for mouth wash afterward. Then, it was Yusuke's turn, he rolled and hit Jin. Jin rolled and hit Dare. "Time for my revenge. I dare you to kiss Sarah. HA! Take THAT! Ah! Don't kill me!" Hiei had growled and held the katana to Yusuke's throat, catching everyone off guard.

"Hiei, calm down, it's just a dare," I said, breaking the silence.

"Ummm…what just happened?" asked Kuwabara.

"Don't ask," I said, scratching the back of my head.

"Sarah?..." Natalie clearly had her suspicions…I gave her a look that said "hush, you."

"No way…SERIOUSLY!?" the brunette yelled. I groaned and covered my eyes, laying down on my back.

All was silent as everyone looked, open-mouthed, at me and Hiei. Everyone's heads turned in unison from one to the other. Finally, Natalie squealed and hugged me. "I knew it! I knew it I knew it! Oh, I'm so happy for you!" Apparently Kurama had told the others about the situation, because Yusuke and Kuwabara slapped Hiei on the back, saying things like "It's about time" and "So how's it feel to be in love, Mr. I-don't-have-stupid-ningen-emotions?" Kurama simply chuckled and smiled, saying "Well, Hiei, I'm glad you were able to work things out so quickly."

The dare was forgotten as everyone congratulated us and "mocked" Hiei. I sat back up. "All right, that's enough. Let's get back to the game."

"You still have to kiss Jin," Yusuke reminded me. I sighed and Jin floated over to me. He gave me a quick peck on the cheek. When Yusuke gawked at him, he said-

"Ay, but you never specified where I should kiss the lass, now did ya, Urameshi?"

Yusuke sighed and said "Oh well, it wasn't exactly the best payback dare I could think of anyway." And so the game continued. Hiei and I were dared to spend the night together. Natalie had to confess that she used to eat glue when she was younger. Touya and Rinku were forced to switch clothing (now Rinku's fishnet shirt and toga were hanging off of him and Touya was hardly able to squeeze into the pink and yellow shirt and bluejeans of the child fighter). Yusuke was dared to sweet-talk and kiss-up to Genkai. Genkai refused to put on a leopard-print bikini (to everyone's relief) and simply took off a shoe. Botan had to hang upside down on her oar until the end of the game while singing "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star." Kurama and Natalie had to kiss for a full five minutes after doing a Romeo and Juliet dialogue. Chuu had to do the booty-dance in his underwear while singing "Shake, Shake, Shake Your bootay" (which wasn't a problem since he was drunk anyway). And finally, Yukina and I were Doubledared to sing.

"Wow, Yukina, I never knew that you were such a great singer," I said.

"Thanks, but you were much better," she said modestly.

"No, I was just louder."

"But seriously, both of you are amazing!" said Kuwabara.

"Yeah, well you haven't heard Natalie sing. She has a beautiful belting voice."

"I'd like to hear that sometime," said Kurama, putting his arm around Natalie.

"I'm sure you will," she replied, putting her arms around his waist and giving him a kiss, receiving several catcalls and whistles.

"Get a room!" yelled Yusuke. Natalie stuck her tongue out at him. I glanced at the clock and realized that it was almost 11:00 p.m.

"All right, everybody. I think it's time to stop playing and get some sleep. Botan, you can come back now." Botan's cherry red face turned right-side up and she took several gasping breaths before taking the dice and saying good night, flying out the window and off back to Spirit World.

Kurama and Natalie went off to his room. Jin, Touya, Chuu, and Rinku went off to my and Natalie's room since we wouldn't need it. Kuwabara and Yusuke went to their room, and Genkai and Yukina shared the last.

I went outside with Hiei. We sat at the base of a tree, me sitting in between his legs. He put his arms around my waist and nuzzled against my neck. I leaned against him and covered his hands with mine. We fell asleep like that, and I slept without nightmares for once.

But only because the real nightmare was about to begin.


	11. Chapter 11

**Chapter 11**

**Parents and Secrets Unfolded**

I awoke in Hiei's arms, but it seemed that he was already awake. He was kissing my neck.

"Down, boy," I said, not really meaning it and turning so I could kiss him on the lips. He smirked and kissed me back. We did that for a few minutes, and then he laid me down on the ground and got on top of me. "What is this, your mating season?"

"Hn. No. If it were, you'd already be pregnant."

"Is that supposed to be comforting?" I asked. "Yeah, I'm definitely not ready to have children yet."

"Exactly." He leaned down and pressed me to the ground, kissing me fiercely. Suddenly, he stopped and looked back toward the temple, a disturbed look on his face.

And then I felt it too. A massive surge of energy was emanating from the temple, and I heard Natalie scream. Hiei picked me up bridal-style and raced off toward the scream at top speed.

"Where's that energy coming from, Hiei?"

"It's Kurama. He's transformed into the Spirit Fox."

"Oh, SHIT!"

He put me down as we reached Kurama's bedroom door. He kicked it open and we saw Natalie in a corner, huddled up in a ball, and Youko Kurama advancing on her.

I was _really_ mad.

Without thinking, I called on the winds and felt them like a cyclone in my veins. It was enough to rip the slender tissue apart. I focused on the fox in front of my friend and pegged that turbulent force at the silver-haired bastard. The force of it sent my foe spiraling backward to hit the wall, crash right through it, and send him tumbling on the ground outside until he hit a tree, unconscious. Then I saw Natalie.

"NATALIE! Omigosh, are you okay? Did he hurt you? I warned you about this!" I was talking so fast that even I couldn't understand what I was saying, but somehow she did. I embraced her, trying to comfort her, but she shook me off and stood up, shaking.

"I-I'm f-f-fine, Sarah. H-He d-didn't hurt m-me." I could tell that she was dealing with some major emotional pain right now. After all, she loved Kurama like I loved Hiei, and, in a way, he betrayed her. I looked out at the unconscious silver figure.

"YOUKO! YOU'RE SO FRICKIN' DEAD!" I leapt out of the hole in the wall and, with speed I never knew I had, ran over to him with every intention of beating his guts out. But, before I got the chance, he changed back into the redhead we all knew would never hurt Natalie. My fist stopped short of his nose and I stood back.

"Smart Fox," I muttered under my breath. Kurama opened his eyes, took in his surroundings, and suddenly his eyes widened and he yelled "NATALIE!" and raced off back to the room. I followed him, and found Natalie in Kurama's embrace, trying to fight back her tears of fear. Kurama was saying things like "I am so sorry, Natalie, I tried to hold him back" and "Please, forgive me, you know I would never do anything to hurt you." Natalie simply nodded and cried into his shirt-front.

He looked up at me with now-emerald eyes and gave me a look that said he desperately wanted to prove himself.

To me.

I just nodded and said "It's okay, we know it wasn't you. Just take of her. Have you seen Hiei?" The spiky-haired demon was not in the room. My question was answered as he came back, followed by everyone else.

"What the heck happened here?" asked Yusuke. "We felt Youko's energy and heard Natalie screaming."

"Then why weren't you already here?" I demanded, still enraged.

"Because Hiei's still considerably faster than us," replied Genkai, taking a look at the remains of the wall. "But it looks like we have more pressing matters. How is it that you are destroying my temple?"

"She manipulated the winds and blew Youko through the wall," answered Hiei for me. "That's why I left to get them," he said, turning to me. "Then, she used them again to propel herself toward the Fox while she was running. She was almost as fast as me."

My jaw dropped. "…Say what?"

"You heard me, Onna." That was said a little harshly. I frowned at him, slightly hurt by his scolding tone.

"No need fer yellin' wee dragon," Jin said in my defense. "You should be congratulatin' the lass. Such winds should have torn 'er to pieces. That's some might 'a control, dar." He smiled at me, and I smiled back.

"Thank you, Jin."

"Jin" Genkai interrupted, "I think it's time you started teaching her how to control this. Meanwhile, I'll need to inform Koenma about this. He might find this a bit interesting."

"You mean because I'm not supposed to have these powers until I'm nineteen?"

"Yes."

"I'm kind of curious about that myself."

"In the meantime, eat your breakfast and start training with Jin immediately. We don't want a tornado on us the next time a threat makes itself known."

I nodded, and everyone (minus me, Hiei, Jin, and Genkai) headed to the kitchen, while Genkai hopped back through the hole in the wall.

"And I expect this wall to be fixed by the time I get back." And with that, she sped off, leaving me, Hiei, and Jin.

"Firs' things firs' now," said Jin, breaking the silence. "Sarah, did ya feel a might bit strange when ya used yer powers?"

"Now that you mention it, yeah. It felt like the winds themselves were in my veins. Like they would rip me to pieces if I didn't get rid of it soon."

"Ay, I was afraid 'a this. The power 'a the winds can be mighty strong. I'm impressed that ya were able tuh channel it like a real pro, lass." He put his arm around my shoulders and gave me a noogie in a friendly gesture. But Hiei didn't like it and growled warningly.

"Relax, Hiei. He's just a friend," I comforted, still smiling. He still didn't seem satisfied. I nudged him and said "Never knew you to be the jealous type, Bajito."

"Hn. Don't call me that," he said.

"I wouldn't if you wouldn't call me Girl," I teased. Looking back at Jin, I saw he was trying hard not to laugh at us.

"If you two lovebirds are dun, we should start a'trainin' like the wee Master said," he said, gaining control of himself.

"Right. But can we eat, first?" I asked, my stomach growling.

"A'course. I'm a might bit hungry meeself!" said the wind-master, patting his bare stomach. I laughed, grabbed my koorime's arm and ran down the hall. Jin flew past me, saluting.

"Don't you ever walk!" I yelled at him.

"Nope!" he said merrily.

After breakfast and training, I came into the living room and crashed onto the couch as everyone else was eating dinner. My muscles were _throbbing_. Not to mention many new blisters (that had already been healed up thanks to Yukina). I rolled over onto my stomach and rested my head on my folded arms with every intention of falling asleep. I closed my eyes and started to relax when someone came in and locked the door. I pretended to be asleep and fidgeted a little. Next thing I knew, someone was straddling my thighs, putting their hands on my waist, and licking my neck.

"Hiei, you're way too horny for your own good," I said in what I hoped was a sexy voice. However, I didn't move, enjoying the sensation of being under him. He let go of my waist and moved my hair out of the way and started to nibble on my ear.

I turned over to face my fire demon and let my body rub up against his as I did so. Crimson eyes stared down at me before I lifted my head to meet his, wrapping my arms around his neck. As he fed me his tongue, I could feel his fingers running along the bare skin just above my waistline, sending chills throughout my body. I ram my fingers through his spiky black hair and was thankful he hadn't put his shirt back on after my training. I could feel him sweating and something else told me that he was aroused.

Now _I _was getting horny. I wrapped my legs around his and flipped him over so I was on top of him (it's a big couch…) and started kissing his jaw while running my hands over his abs and chest muscles. I brought my mouth down to his throat and felt his voice reverberating through it as he half-growled half-moaned-

"Now who's horny?" He flipped me over again so I was back on the bottom and kissed me fiercely and passionately. I had never felt so…amazing before.

Suddenly, I heard something at the door, and looked up to see that Hiei had heard it, too. He promptly jumped off of me and lunged at it. I turned just in time to see Yusuke and Kuwabara get their heads bonked together.

"I thought you locked it," I said.

"Hn. So did I."

I sighed and got up off of the couch (which we had somehow managed to stay on) and walked over to the two unconscious and swirly-eyed doofs. I shook them until they woke up, then, as they started rubbing the back of their heads (which now had a huge lump on them), I slapped them both.

Hard.

"AIIYEEEEEEEE! What the heck was _that_ for?" yelled Yusuke.

"For being idiots. Why do you think?"

"Oh yeah," said Kuwabara, a stupid grin crossing his face. "You two were really gettin' to know each other weren't ya, Nabors?"

I slapped them again.

"HEY!" protested Yusuke. "HE'S the one that said it, not me!"

"Whatever." I said, still pretty peeved that they had ruined our moment. "Where are the others?"

"They're outside, ready to start training again," voiced Kurama, who stepped over the loons and came in. "And by the way, it appears we have more guests."

"More?" I asked, confused. I ran outside and saw a tall, cute, yellow-haired man standing next to a bluish-purplish-haired samurai.

"Oh, great. Two more totally self-centered fighters who love to bask in the love of their fans," I said, putting on an exasperated face, then smiling and saying "It's nice to meet you guys."

"Umm, Sarah?" asked Natalie, coming up next to me. "Who are these guys? The blue-haired one came here as a little crow-like thing on the tall one's shoulder and then transformed into this dreamy guy."

I started laughing along with everyone else, then turned to her and answered her question. "The tall one is Suzu…excuse me…the 'Beautiful Suzuka'-" I made quotations with my fingers and rolled my eyes "- and the other guy's name is Shishiwakamaru, and he's part imp."

"Shisha waka who-ha?"

The samurai chuckled. "Hmhmhm. Call me Shishi."

"Thank you," my friend said, hand behind her head, embarrassed. "I remember the guys telling me about you guys now. You-" she pointed to Suzuka "-were an Old Bloke at the Dark Tournament who turned into a freakish clown who thought he was 'beautiful'. You look better now without the face paint and clown-clothes. Trust me. And you-" she turned to Shishi "-tried the Banshee Shriek freak sword on Master Genkai and had your own pathetic fan club. What kind of self-centered yahoo has his own fan club!"

Kurama cleared his throat, chuckling slightly. The others started laughing, too. Yusuke helped out the now incredibly confused Natalie. "_Shuichi Minamino_ happens to have a rather large fan-club back at his school."

I asked the question that had been nagging me for a while. "So, wait, why are you guys here? Jin's here to be my teacher and Rinku, Touya, and Chuu are just a part of his group, but why do you guys need to be here?" Everyone's face except for mine and Natalie's got very serious. Hiei was just sitting in a tree with his eyes closed, and I could tell he was thinking and…

Worried.

"Sarah," started Yusuke "I don't know how to tell you this, but…someone else is after you."

"Yeah, I know. You already said that."

"No, you don't get it. It's someone much stronger and she happens to be…" he faded out.

Kurama jumped in. "Your papers say that you are adopted."

"Yeah, so?" Then I got it. "You mean…it's my mom…my _real_ mom." Everyone nodded. "But…how…?"

"Apparently she's from our universe and knew of your…inheritance," said Suzuka. "She's a famed cut-throat and she's said to be the highest class of demon there is."

"An S-class?" Heads bobbed. "Oh, shit. Wait, does that mean that I'm…_half-demon_!"

"No, and that's what we're curious about," explained Shishi. "She appears to be a demon but she emits no demon energy."

"Then how do you know what class she is?"

"We believe that it's just her level of strength that makes her a Super-S-Class," Kurama cut in.

"So, wait, she's not demon?" I asked, genuinely confused.

"Honestly, we're not sure what she is. We simply know that she is neither demon…nor human," the redhead finished.

"So…she could be a spirit for all we know?"

"Anything is possible at this point."

"So," I turned to Shishi, Suzuka, Touya, Rinku, Chuu, and Jin, "these guys are like bodyguards?"

"Basically," said Rinku, smiling with one hand behind his head (as always) and flashing a peace sign at me.

"So basically I need to do some kick-butt training if I wanna have any hope of beating her?"

"Basically," the yo-yoist repeated.

"There's one thing I don't get. Why is she after me and how do you guys _know_ that she is?"

"She sent Koenma a telepathic message," said Hiei, hopping down from his tree. "She explained that on your nineteenth birthday, she was going to come see you and that if we knew what was good for us we'd stay out of her way."

"So where's the threat?"

"In the last part, smart one," said Natalie.

"But do we actually know that she's going to try and hurt me or something? It sounds like she just wants to see me, and thinks you guys won't let her because of her status."

"We know because of her file." I turned to the speaker, teenage Koenma. "Turns out she tried to kill you when you were just born so she could have the raw energy of the Phoenix right then."

"But…" I prompted.

"But your father interfered. He somehow managed to get you back to your universe, which is the one he was from, and gave you to an adoption agency."

"What happened to him after that?"

"…He died of an unknown and incurable disease."

"Lovely." My voice dripped with grim sarcasm.

"Sheesh," said a small voice next to me. "I've known you all my life, Sarah, and I knew that you had some hard stuff to deal with, but…this…is almost…unimaginable. I mean, you're one of the nicest most fun people to be around. No one would ever suspect that your life is so…different…and interesting."

"Thanks Nat, but it's not like your life is any less interesting."

"Yeah right. You're the one who loves to fight, has unwanted psychic abilities, a creepy family history, special powers no one knew about…need I go on?"

"Yes, because, you can heal people, are trying to learn how to fight even though you don't want to, are able to deal with such a weirdo friend, are super talented, are accepting this situation a lot better than most people would, and probably have some freakish deep dark secret that you didn't even know you knew, too."

"I wish."

"No, trust me. You don't."

"You're probably right."

"Of course I am."

"Come on, now, we gotta git started," said Jin cheerily, "Times a'wastin' don't'cha know."

So we trained and trained and trained until I was completely numb all over. Hiei, Jin, and Shishi (who was helping me learn different styles of sword-fighting and how to recognize them) decided that I'd had enough for the day, and let me walk over to where Natalie was training. I was amazed at my friend! She was using throwing knives and trees with a small dot on them as targets. I watched as one by one she threw the knives, dodging Kurama's whip all the while. She only missed a few. And she had only a few cuts and scratches where she hadn't been able to avoid the thorns on Kurama's Rose Whip. I stared at her, mouth dramatically agape, as she came over to me, breathing heavily.

"Well, whaddaya think?"

"That was incredible Natalie! I didn't know you had it in you!"

"Yeah? Well, neither did I. So how about your training? Are you get'n any better?"

"Loads. I'm also losing the feeling in every part of my body."

"I can heal that for you."

I gaped at her again.

"Yukina taught me how to heal minor wounds and relax muscles."

"YES, PLEASE!"

"Lay down." I obliged as she held her hands a couple inches above my stomach and a reddish-gold light filled the space between her fingers and my now-hard abdominal muscles. A heating and cooling sensation filled my body as I got that pins-and-needles feeling and I could finally move without being in excruciating pain.

"Wow. Impressive. So that's the color of your Spirit Energy?"

"Nope. That's my healing energy. My Spirit Energy is the same color as my eyes. Hazel blue."

"Nice." I watched as she healed her own cuts and then glanced over to see my teachers and hers talking. Natalie saw this, too, and decided to take advantage of the situation. An evil and sly grin crossed her face as she looked between me and Hiei, who was currently speaking to Shishi.

"So, how's Hiei?"

"Huh?"

"You know what I mean."

"…"

"As in, is he a good kisser?"

"…I'd tell you this…why?"

"Awww, pleeeeaaase?" She said, gaining the attention of the others. She widened her eyes and puckered out her lips.

"Awww, the puppy-dog face?" I said, making my own sad face.

"Uh-huh."

I pointed to my own now-straight face. "Get-over-it face."

Everyone chuckled. Natalie lost the puppy-dog look and got an evil grin instead. I knew that look.

"Natalie…no…no no no no no NO absolutely not NO…Don't do it…DON'T NATALIE…HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!" She crept closer to me and finally started tickling me like mad. I was laughing so hard that I was crying. "St…STOP…STOPSTOPSTOP OKAY OKAY OKAY…HAHAHAHAHA STOP IT! OKAY, I'LL TALK I'LL TALK JUST STOP!" She stopped and I had a chance to breathe, gasping and trying to stop laughing.

"What just happened?" asked Rinku.

"Sarah is SUPER ticklish! Just tickle her and she'll do whatever you want.

There were dispersed "Is that so?"s and "Really?"s and thoughtfully evil looks throughout the group, each imagining what they could do to me.

"No!" I screamed. "No one but Natalie can tickle me and live to tell the tale. You tickle me, you die!" Just then, something came up from behind me and started to tickle my sides. I screamed with laughter again and thrashed around, yelling for them to stop. I saw that it was Yusuke and I punched him as hard as I could right in the jaw. He flew a few feet before falling to the ground, swirly-eyed.

"Like I said, you tickle me, you DIE!" I said again, and everyone gulped and nodded nervously in unison.

"Don't think I've forgotten about you missy," said Natalie, elbowing me in the side. "So…?"

"Yes, he is. And what about Kurama?" I asked coyly.

"Duh! He's the BEST!"

"So, how far have you gone with him?"

"SARAH!"

"What?"

"They're still listening to us." Sure enough, the guys were all staring at us and then at Hiei and Kurama.

"I know. So you guys went that far, huh?" I grinned mischievously.

"SARAH!"

"WHAT! I just wanna know!"

"Oh yeah? What about you and Hiei?"

"Probably not as far as you two."

"…"

"HA! I KNEW it!"

"Okay, we should really change the subject."

"Yeah, probably."

"…"

"…"

"Sooo…Sarah, how's your training going?" Everyone face-faulted.

I sighed. Then…

It all happened at once. Scenes flashing through my mind. A sword flashing back and forth. Blue hair swishing violently. Clanks and shinks, and pluds. Metal hitting metal. Metal hitting flesh. Blood. Open eyes. Lifeless.

Death.

I came around and saw that I was now staring at the sky. I sat up to see Hiei and Natalie looming over me. Everything came back to me and I frantically looked around, finding the man I was looking for. I just stared at him.

So it was his future. Very near future by the look of it. I stared at the man with sad eyes.

"Shishi." My voice was barely more than a whisper. I could see the shock in everyone's eyes as all shifted to the blue-haired samurai. He looked as calm and overconfident as ever. I shook my head disbelievingly. He seemed to finally understand.

"You saw me?"

I nodded.

"…Die?"

I nodded again, looking at the ground.

"…When?"

"I'd give it three weeks at most."

"…How?"

"Fighting. You died by…" I didn't want to bring myself to say it.

"By what?"

I still couldn't say it and made several strange noises before just bringing my finger across my throat, meaning decapitation. I didn't see even the slightest flash of fear in Shishi's eyes. In fact, he looked…

Content.

"It's the way of the samurai to die in combat," he said.

"Do you know who…did it?" asked Chuu, looking totally sober for once.

"No, I didn't see anything but flashes of stuff. And they all had only Shishi in them."

"We won't let that happen, now will we?" said Yusuke, making a fist.

"Yusuke, all of my visions have always come true. There's nothing we can do."

"Not for lack of trying at least. And besides, it's not like we haven't done the impossible before."

"Listen to the detective, Onna," said Hiei, coming up to me. "This fool is extremely lucky and is always able to defy all odds. And with something as vague as a psychic premonition-"

"EXCUSE ME!" I yelled. "VAGUE! You think my premonitions are _VAGUE!"_

"Sarah," Genkai stepped in, "visions of the past or present are irrefutable normally. But the future is never completely certain. There are too many paths that can be taken."

"All of my future premonitions have come true!" I was angry that they didn't believe in me. This was one of the things that I couldn't explain, I just _knew_.

"That may be so, but those could have easily just been coincidences."

"I know what I'm talking about!"

"You're just a child. You don't know _half _the things that I have learned in my lifetime. You're just like all the other dimwits; confident that everything you _feel_ to be true _is_ true."

Honestly, I could have slapped the pink-haired bitch right then. "You may be a psychic," my voice was dangerously low and soft, "but you can't even dream of the things I have seen and know. You're an amazing person, Genkai, and I respect you. But just because you've lived longer and experienced more than I have doesn't mean you know more about my power than I do. Heck, you don't even know as much about life itself as I do."

"And how is that?"

"Because to know one thing, you must be expert at its opposite. And I see the opposite of life on a daily basis up close and personal. I have experienced it more than three times as much. How many times have you?" I knew the answer and glared at the old hag, daring her to test me further. She didn't. "Look, it doesn't matter. The point is that we need to be on constant guard, especially now that we know who to protect."

"I don't need protection, girl."

"You sound like Hiei when he's being stupid."

"Hn. And when have I ever done anything stupid?"

"Does the word 'hot' bring back any memories?"

"…"

"Well, let's just quit for the day and get a fresh start tomorrow, eh?" said Jin, trying to cheer everyone up.

"Sounds good." Everyone said.

Hours later, I made an excuse to go back outside and take another walk. Hiei didn't bother hiding this time and walked behind me. When I got the water's edge, I sat down and hung my head, thinking. Hiei stood, still behind me.

"I feel like an idiot." I finally voiced my thoughts.

"…"

"I acted so immature…thinking I knew more than Genkai. She's been dead herself, and I said I knew more about life and death than her. I can't believe I let myself act so foolishly."

"You may know more than Genkai and you may not. Neither of you can know that for sure." He came to stand next to me, looking straight ahead.

"I guess…still, I shouldn't have been so rude to her when she's trying to help me."

"I agree."

"…I'm sorry. I'll go apologize to her."

"Do what you want."

I went back to the temple, thoroughly ashamed. Hiei stayed and thought about how the next few months would be.


	12. Chapter 12

**Chapter 12**

**Return of the Black Angel**

For the next three weeks, we continued our normal schedule: me and Hiei meditating as soon as we woke up, eating breakfast, training, resting, training, eating lunch, training, lessons (teaching us everything we need to know about high-ranking demons), training, dinner, training, relaxing (FINALLY), and sleeping. Kurama and Natalie were doing the same thing. I had finished taking the medicines Kurama had given me and they seemed to have cured my asthma as well. Then the day that marked the end of the third week came, and everyone could feel something coming.

"Today's the day," I said at breakfast.

"Sarah," said Natalie, "are you _absolutely sure_ that he was dead?" She had asked this several times before, knowing the answer but not wanting it to be true. Over the past few weeks, she had grown to like Shishi. She loved listening to his stories of being a samurai. I did, too. She was the only one who had yet to accept Shishi's rapidly approaching death.

"Natalie, you must deal with it," said Shishi, "If I've been able to come to terms with it, then you can, too."

_Not necessarily_, I told Hiei telepathically. He just stared solemnly at the air in front of him. I wasn't surprised to see that he wasn't much bothered by any of this. As I kept telling Natalie, it was the death a warrior like Shishi would want. Most likely, that was why no one else was…well…as saddened or worried by it as Natalie was…although there were a lot of somber faces around.

Once breakfast was done, we headed out to the forest for training. But instead of splitting up as usual, we stayed in one group. Shishi explained that this was not for his own protection, but for ours, because if it could kill _him_, there was no telling what it may take to bring this demon down.

So we continued training for the next two hours until suddenly…

"It's coming," said Genkai.

"How fast?" asked Shishi, undeterred.

"It will be here in approximately eight minutes and forty-two seconds," replied the pink-haired master.

"Well then," the samurai responded, not even the slightest change in his face, "we should finish our training, Sarah." I nodded grimly, understanding. I was using Hiei's katana against his Banshee Shriek Sword. As we parried off, I matched his sword blow for blow, blocking, striking, and balancing as though it were second nature to me. Pleased with my progress, Shishi grinned as I knocked his sword from his hand and held the tip of the sword to his neck graceful as a cat.

"Well done," he said as I lowered my sword. "Now for the final test." We all knew what this meant. He had taught me exactly how to deal with it. The question was…

Was I strong enough to handle it?

I braced myself as Shishi picked up his sword and pulled the hilt from the blade, revealing a horrible corpse-like screaming face. "BANSHEE SHRIEK!" Instantly, dozens of soul-like monsters erupted from the mouth of the corpse-face. Speeding toward me were some of the stronger "shrieks" he had. I focused on my sword and poured some of my energy into it, combining it with a purification energy I had discovered in me. Once that was done, I refocused on the rapidly-advancing spirits and struck the first one, which evaporated into nothing. I did this again and again, pouring more energy into my sword as I did so. I threw strike after strike skillfully and fluidly, always cutting them right down the middle. The last one plummeted into my blade and vanished, leaving me near drained of all energy. I stood my ground though, staying in position for a moment after my last strike. Then, I stood up and handed Hiei his sword, stainless because of my purification energy. He accepted it and smirked at me (in a congratulatory way), and I received whistles, claps on the back, and cheers from my friends.

Shishi walked up to me with a content smile and handed me his sword. I looked at him questioningly.

"When I die, I want you to use this sword." I started to protest, but he covered my mouth with his hand. "You have proven yourself to be a remarkable swordsman and able to handle the Banshee Shriek's most powerful attacks. It only seems fitting that the pupil should receive what the teacher can no longer carry…In other words, just take it bitch." He smiled at his sort-of semi-joke and took the sword from my hands. "But I'm gonna need this for now." We all laughed somewhat nervously. I bowed to him.

"Thank you Shishi-kun."

"Don't call me that."

"Yessir."

All the sudden, a dagger pierced my shoulder from behind. I roared in pain and fell to the ground. Everyone reacted at once, but a wall of bamboo-like plants shot through the ground, trapping everyone inside it except for me and Shishi, who was nowhere in sight. Hiei's katana shattered against the plant barrier, as did Kurama's rose whip. Yusuke's reigun and Kuwabara's Spirit Sword were useless as well. To cut things short, none of their weapons worked. A voice chuckled menacingly as a freakishly tall (like 13-foot) demon stepped out of the shadow. Everyone gasped as a dark blue Youko appeared out of the brush. He had nine tails and carried an air of superiority, age, wisdom and power that everyone could feel. When he spoke, his voice was so deep that it reverberated throughout my body. It was lower than Bui's.

"Hmhmhmhmhm. We finally meet sweet one." He was talking to me, calling me…HOLD UP!

"Don't CALL me that!" I shot at him, glaring as hard as I could. He laughed, sending vibrations through the air around me.

"What…you don't recognize me?" he asked, still smiling.

"What're you talking ab…Shishi, NO!" I couldn't finish my sentence as Shishi came leaping through a clear drape-like thing. I recognized it from his previous attack against Kuwabara in the dark Tournament. He appeared just over the Youko's head and bore down on the blue creature, shouting, trying to slash at him. The Youko drew a sword from his belt and clashed it with Shishi's, blocking it and pushing him over to the side. Shishi landed gracefully and launched back at him, opening his sword so that the Banshee Shriek was uncovered. Several of the soul-like creatures roared from it, but the Youko batted them aside as though they were nothing to him.

It was just a distraction. Shishi was behind one of them and as soon as the Youko destroyed that one, the samurai cut off his left arm. The demon fox roared in pain and rage. "You'll pay for that, whelp."

"What did you just call me!" yelled Shishi, blocking as the fox swung his sword at him with his remaining arm.

"A whelp. Would you prefer son-of-a-bitch?"

"WHY YOU…!...UNH!"

"NOOOOOO!" Natalie's voice rang clear above everyone else's cries as Shishi landed next to me and beside the Youko. The only remnant of his head on his body were the bluish-purple hairs on his blood-stained white kimono-like shirt. His eyes remained open as the Youko knelt down to pick up his disembodied head by the hair.

"What a shame. He was such a pretty boy, too."

"SHUT UP!" I had never seen Natalie so outraged before. "SHUT…UUUUUP!" As she said this, black streams of light erupted from her body, shattering the plant barrier. A horrible black fog filled the place. Everyone shielded their eyes from the fog. Through it, I could see Natalie's hair going wild, her eyes glowing black, her face turned up toward the sky. Suddenly, two black angel wings erupted from her lower back, two more in her middle, and yet another pair just between her shoulder-blades. Her body glowed, and where there had once been a T-shirt and white jeans, there was now a long black gown with the smallest of trains that fitted to her perfectly. Her hair turned black and lengthened greatly as her skin turned pure white and her eyes turned yellow (meaning they glowed yellow, not the irises turned yellow). Her fingernails sharpened and lengthened into claws. She snarled, showing off her new fangs and perfectly red lips. She was a dark beauty.

"DIE!" she yelled before throwing a long bolt of black lightning at the Youko. It pierced his heart and he fell to the ground, eyes wide in shock. The black fog cleared, revealing everyone else's startled faces. Kurama was staring at his love with mixed emotions; pride, admiration, confusion, and even fear of what had happened to her. No one could have possibly imagined the next thing the Youko said.

"Huh. You truly are your mother's daughter. We'll meet again, Meeha." Then he closed his eyes, dead.

Meanwhile, black flashes of lightning were terrorizing the sky and Natalie's eyes continued to glow as her six seraph-like black wings kept her airborne. Her face was pressed into a scowl and she still looked inconceivably angry. Suddenly, when she realized that the Youko was dead, the entire atmosphere changed. There was no longer a threatening air about her, and instead of the black lightning, there were now only soft breezes blowing through. Her wings turned white as did her hair even her dress and she drifted down to Shishi. There was such a look of sadness in her eyes that it was overwhelming me as well. I felt myself begin to cry as she gently placed the severed head on the fallen body and suddenly bit into her wrist with her long fangs. She smeared the blood over her hand and caressed his neck where the injury was. Her blood mixed with his and glowed. The shocking part was that I couldn't decide whether the glow was white or black; light or dark. We then watched in awe as she spread her arms and wings; first the middle, then top, then bottom pair. She opened her mouth and a strange musical note came from it as she began to glow even brighter. A strange white mist appeared, hovering over Shishi's now one-piece body. Natalie – or whoever this was – flapped each pair of her wings once, forcing the mist down onto Shishi's body. He closed his eyes and began to breathe.

***

We now sat in the living room, watching the blue-haired man sleep as his chest deftly rose and fell. Natalie had returned to normal and had blacked out as soon as she was back in her original form. Kurama carried her back to his room and cared for her wrist and a few other injuries she had gained while trying to break free of the bamboo prison. Hiei stood next to me, while Genkai, Yusuke, Kuwabara, Suzuka, Chuu, Rinku, Jin, and Touya were seated around Shishi, discussing the afternoon's events. Koenma and Botan had arrived as soon as they heard about the…incident.

"Koenma-sama," Botan said to the teenaged-Koenma, "I swear to you that the only unusual thing our resources could dig up about her was her healing powers. They couldn't have possibly missed anything."

"I know, Botan, and I don't doubt that," replied the young ruler in a very thoughtful voice. "And I may be jumping to conclusions, but I think I have an idea of what exactly miss Natalie is."

"What is she, Koenma?" I asked in a demanding voice. "In all the years I've known her, she has never shown ANY signs of what happened out there today. That was the first time she'd seen anyone die, so I would understand if the distress triggered it, but I just don't see how someone as calm and happy as Natalie could turn into something as enraged and powerful as that…thing." She was my best friend, more than a sister to me, and what I had seen out there scared me to death.

"I believe that she may be the real _Black Angel_."

Silence.

"Wait…" I said softly. "Wasn't that the nickname Sensui gave himself?"

"Indeed it was." Koenma sat down on one of the couches and held his forehead in his hands as though he had a migraine. "Sensui believed himself to be the ultimate judge of humans and demons alike, and therefore named himself the creature who is prophesied to be that judge. It is said in many different legends that a creature who is neither man nor demon, angel nor devil, would cast the final judgment of all living things. This creature possesses all the…properties…of both Yin and yang inside him…or rather, her…self. The description you gave me of what happened so vividly depicts this…being…that I cannot see any other way. No other explanation for this than that _she_…_Natalie_…is the _true Black Angel_."

Everyone sat there, speechless. This possibility had never occurred to any of them…_ever_.

"So…what happens now?" asked Yusuke.

"I can't even begin to fathom what her appearance could mean for the rest of us. She has more power than even my _father_, King Yama. I have no doubts that he will want her destroyed, like he did Yusuke when he found out that he was a dangerous half-demon."

"But I wasn't dangerous," Yusuke pointed out. "I proved all of you wrong and ended up creating a peace treaty between the demon and human worlds."

"I know, Yusuke, but I'm afraid that Natalie's case is much more important and…volatile…than even yours was."

"So what do you suggest, Koenma?" I asked, fearful of what he would say.

He said nothing for several agonizing moments, and then he looked me straight in the eye and said-

"I have no choice…"

No one in the room even blinked.

"…My father will no doubt be sending assassins out to finish her soon. I'd give it less than a few months. I can probably hold off the information from getting to him until then, but I can't promise any more time than that. I acknowledge the fact that he was wrong with Yusuke's case, but I know nothing about how this could turn out. Natalie and her alternate self are so different and seem to have no control over each other whatsoever. I suggest that you get a move on and get as far away from here as possible and not to make Natalie angry or distressed, as that could bring the Black Angel back out. And there's no telling what could ensue if that happens. Yusuke, I'm counting on you and the others to keep them safe. We still don't even no that much about the White Phoenix, and I don't want another problem on top of this one coming up."

"Where do you suggest we go?" asked the Spirit Detective.

"I'll have a portal to the Makai set up for you. It may not be the safest place from other dangers, but it is definitely the safest place from my father, and the best place for you to continue training and grasping control of your energies."

Koenma told us to meet him in the forest by the stream in two days, which should give Natalie and Shishi enough time to recuperate and deal with this news. Then, he said his farewells, asked Botan to stay with us and keep him up to date, and departed. Genkai decided that once Shishi was at full-strength again, he, Suzuka, Chuu, Rinku, Jin, and Touya would have to leave, and Genkai herself would stay at the temple when they crossed over into the demon world. So it would just be me and Natalie and the original four detectives. No one questioned why, knowing the old hag must have her reasons, but we all wondered what she had in mind when she said that training would cease until Natalie awoke, and then it would step up several notches.

After everything had been settled, and dinner had been eaten and put away, I went in to see Natalie. Kurama was sitting in a chair next to the bed. Having been informed of our earlier conversation, his brows were knitted together with worry and suppressed anger that anyone would want to "get rid of" his beloved.

"Hey," I said, walking up to him. "How's she doing?" Her face was white, angelic even. Irony was so cruel sometimes.

"Better," said the fox. "Her fever's gone down back to normal, and she seems to simply be asleep now."

"That's good."

"…"

"…I'm so worried." I barely whispered my thoughts to him.

"As am I." He mirrored my thoughts.

"…You should get some rest. We have a lot to do soon."

"That is true. A little rest couldn't hurt you either."

"Yeah, I was just about to back outside, but I wanted to see her." I had thought I would just be able to peak in and go out, but looking at her made me realize that I couldn't bear to leave her now. "Actually, is it alright if I sleep in here tonight?"

He nodded. "Of course."

"Thanks."

_Hiei…_

_What is it, Onna._

_I'm gonna stay in here tonight. Do you mind?_

…_No. I'll be there in a minute._

_Thank you, Hiei._

_Whatever._

I gave a slight smile as I ended our telepathic conversation. That's Hiei for you; always ruining a sentimental moment by saying something like "Whatever." Oh well. Sure enough, I had barely finished this train of thought when he appeared in the room. I sat against the wall next to Kurama's chair and he sat next to me, allowing me to lean on his shoulder. It was amazing how much he had changed since I had gotten here. Before, he never would have even come into the room to comfort me, much less let himself be used as a pillow. I guess the walls around his heart were melting away as it grew warmer. I was happy that I was able to help him like this, but still worried about what would happen in the next few days.

"Aishiterou," I said. He stiffened when I said that.

"Onna...do you even know what that means?"

"Yeah. It means 'I love you' right?"

"..."

"What?"

"It's a different kind of 'love' when you say it like that..."

Totally not catching on, I asked "What do you mean?"

"Well...let's just say that it's not something you would say to your mother...hopefully."

"OH!" I could feel my face burning up. "...Well...I'm not exactly going to take it back."

"..." He shifted so I had to sit up, then he captured my lips with his and let his fingertips trail down my neck. I practically shivered physically, loving every feeling he was giving me. I had a feeling that if Kurama and Natalie hadn't been in the room, things would have gone much further.

We all completely forgot that we hadn't seen a certain ice-demon all day.


	13. Chapter 13

**Chapter 13**

I woke up the next morning to realize that I was lying down instead of leaning against Hiei's shoulder. My eyes met a soft black fabric and I felt an arm draped across my waist. I had fallen onto Hiei's lap as I slept. I enjoyed the feeling of being this close to him and closed my eyes again. Then I felt a hand brushing the hair from my face, the fingers lingering. He was awake, and didn't want to move either. I remembered my thoughts from the night before; about how much he had changed, and was even more comforted.

"'Morning," I whispered.

"Good morning, Onna."

"Are you ever going to stop calling me that?"

"No."

"Hn. Figures." Realizing I had just used his word, I added, "Looks like you're rubbing off on me."

I could tell he was smirking. I sat up (reluctantly) and saw that Kurama was lying beside Natalie, fast asleep. I smiled softly as I looked at them, happy that Natalie had finally found her perfect match. Apparently, Natalie's change in identity hadn't even altered Kurama's thoughts or feelings toward her. They certainly hadn't changed mine or anyone else's in the group. I knew I had always liked the red-headed kitsune.

Natalie was looking much better; her face had regained most of its color now, and she was breathing normally. Her injuries were fully healed and she was cuddled in a ball inside Kurama's embrace, facing his chest.

"Come on," I said to Hiei. "We should start meditating." He nodded and followed me out of the temple and to our spot by the stream. Once we were there, however, I couldn't concentrate. One thought kept repeating itself in my head…

"Everything's gonna change now," I voiced.

"Hn." Hiei humphed in agreement.

"What do you think's gonna happen to us?"

"Who knows? It's the Makai. Even for a person like me, who's lived there most of my life, things are pretty unpredictable, especially when in the company of a wanted person."

"That's good to know, but…I was talking about _us_ us." I could definitely feel myself blushing.

"Hn. Nothing's going to change between us, Onna."

"Not even for the better?"

"…I don't know."

This shocked me. I had never really heard Hiei voice his uncertainty before.

"_That_ much could change?" I asked. Hiei didn't respond, but acted like he was meditating now. I let him off the hook…for now…and started to meditate, too. But there was just too much to think about. I let my thoughts wander to what I had dreamt about last night. In it, an evilly beautiful woman had been speaking to me. I had no doubt that she was my mother. She said that my love would soon be tested, and that to find her was to find the lost one. Then my dreams had melted into what I usually dreamt of nowadays, with me and Hiei together…um, yeah. _Anyway_...back to the other dream.

"YUUUUUKIIIINNNNAAAAAA!" That annoying idiotic voice could only come from one person.

At the sound of her name, Hiei's eyes snapped open and he only waited long enough for me to climb onto his back before flitting off toward the temple. When we got there, we found Genkai, Yusuke, Chuu, Rinku, Jin, Suzuka, and Kurama trying to comfort a distressed Kuwabara, who was on his knees clutching a clump of dust in each hand.

"WHAT HAPPENED HERE?" I demanded.

Kuwabara was having trouble making distinct noises through his snuffling and choking.

"KUWABARA!"

"I'm s-s-s-sorry…(sob)…sh-sh-sh-she was looking s-s-s-sick, s-s-so I c-c-carried her downstairs, b-b-but sh-she melted into dust!(SOB)!"

I found this HIGHLY unlikely, and apparently so did everyone else, as they were sweat-dropping and looking nervously at Hiei. (Did Yusuke tell Chuu, Rinku, and Jin about the twins, too?) "Kuwabara, you fool," scolded Hiei. "Those ashes smell nothing like Yukina. I assure you, those aren't her."

Kuwabara stopped sniveling at once and stared at Hiei in astonishment. "Really?"

Everyone anime-fell.

"YES, REALLY!" (everyone)

I noticed something in the dust-pile. "Hey, look at this," I said, pulling a small wooden toy from the pile (if you've seen Inuyasha, it's kind of like those little things Naraku uses).

"What is it?" asked Yusuke.

"I've seen this before," I said, thinking of Inuyasha exactly. "It's used to create a likeness of a single person, and give them one goal and one goal only. Kuwabara, did she say anything before she…incinerated?"

"Yeah, she was saying some weird stuff like 'I'm lost, come find me.' That's why I thought she was sick."

"The lost one," I whispered, remembering my dream.

"What?"

"I had a dream last night. I saw my mom…my real mom…and she said that to find her was to find the lost one. She must have taken Yukina." Hiei snarled and clenched his teeth and balled his fists.

"We have to leave now," he said.

"Natalie hasn't woken up yet, and we haven't been able to build up the girls' strength," reasoned Kurama.

"Don't give me that, Fox. I'll go myself."

"I don't think so, _Bajito_," I said, grabbing his arm before he could speed off. "She's my mom and I'm going, too. Besides, that's probably why she kidnapped her in the first place."

"Now hold on a sec," said Chuu. "How do we even know the Sheila's been stolen?"

"Because her scent is gone, you fool," growled Hiei.

"What's going on?" said a weak voice. We all turned to see Natalie rubbing her eyes groggily and staring at Kuwabara (who was still clutching the ashes). "I heard someone screaming."

"There, she's awake. We have to go _now_."

"Hiei, stop," said Kurama.

"No," I interrupted. "Hiei's right. I can tell that she's not exactly the patient type, and she's very likely to torture Yukina for every day we're late. We need to pack and plan immediately. We definitely don't want her to get any more scars (referring to Tarukane). Natalie, how are you feeling?"

"(Yawn) A little tired."

"We should probably explain what's been going on…" I started.

"Don't bother. I overheard everything."

Eyes blinked.

"It was weird. It was like I was hovering right over you guys even though I was unconscious in a different room. Like I was…detached or something. Anyway, I'm fine, just a little tired…and a little confused about the whole Black Angel thing. I remember Kurama telling me about Sensui and all that, and I understand about what the Black Angel is, but…what…exactly…is my…_role_…as the Black Angel?"

"We don't know much more than you do, Natalie," replied Kurama. "We'll just have to play it by ear."

"So…what are we doing?" I asked, "Packing and leaving? Training? Eating, packing, and leaving?"

"The first one," answered Yusuke. "Make sure to pack everything you would take on a camping trip."

"I've never been camping in my life," I said sardonically.

"I have," said Natalie. "I'll help you pack."

"By the way," interrupted Kurama, "try these on." He held up two folded…umm…

"What are they?"

"They're fighting clothes," the redhead explained, handing them to us, "like we wear. You'll be much more agile in them."

"Sweet/Cool," were the responses he got as we accepted the clothes and raced upstairs. I wasn't all that surprised when Natalie ran into Kurama's room. She had moved her stuff into that room a couple weeks ago. I went into mine/Chuu's/Jin's/Rinku's/ (sheesh, how many people use this room anyway?) and shut the door without bothering to lock it. I changed quickly, but I couldn't figure out how all the ties and straps worked. After many grunts and failed attempts, I heard a snicker at the door and turned to see a smirking Hiei leaning against the doorway.

"Need some help, Onna?" he asked, still smirking.

Blushing, I nodded. He worked through it easily, and each time his hands brushed against my waist or back (which was quite often considering he wasn't exactly trying not to) a shot of electricity shot through me. When he finished, he stood back, allowing me to practice a few moves in it, making sure it fit me right and allowed me to move freely in any direction. It was perfect. When I was done, I scratched the back of my head modestly and said-

"You're gonna have to teach me how to work those things."

"Hn. You're pathetic, Onna." (Is he _ever_ gonna stop _smirking_? SHEESH!)

"(Sigh) I know, I know. So, are you packing anything?"

"Don't need anything." I wondered why he was so calm now…considering the sister he was so overly-protective of had just been kidnapped…

"If she was being hurt, I would know."

"Huh?" I turned to look at him.

"Your mind is open. And if Yukina was being hurt, I would know. And this woman doesn't seem like the kind to torture needlessly…"

"Oh…"

About an hour later, we had packed up and Genkai was summoning a portal with Botan's help. Koenma had arrived to escort us through the portal and make sure the energy radiating from it didn't attract anyone's attention ("anyone" being his father and the Grimm Reapers). Everyone went through (including Jin and the others, Suzuka carrying Shishi) until it was just me and Genkai left. Now or never, I guess.

"Umm…Genkai?" I squeaked, getting the old master's attention. "There's…something I've been meaning to ask you about."

"What is it, child?"

"I meant to ask you before this, but…it's kind of an awkward question…"

"Spit it out, we haven't got all day."

"Umm…well…it's been two months since I got here and…well…I haven't had…'my time' yet. I was wondering if it had something to do with…"

"Well, if you and Hiei have been-"

"Nononononononono!" I practically squealed, waving my hands. "I swear we haven't."

"Well, then it's probably got something to do with the White Phoenix."

"But what?"

"How should I know? You're the one with the millennia-old being inside of you."

(sigh)

"Well…thanks anyway. I'll see you later."

"If you survive."

"Gee, thanks for the vote of confidence." Still, I couldn't help but give Genkai a big smile and "thank you" before I leapt through the portal. This portal was much worse than the others. Halfway through, I could feel myself begin to get woozy from the fumes now reaching my lungs, and my eyes were burning and watering mercilessly. Finally, I fell through. Although, I guess I shouldn't say "Finally" since the fumes were even worse here. I blacked out.


	14. Chapter 14

**Chapter 14**

"**Massacred!"**

"They just fainted the moment they came out of the tunnel," stated Yusuke, confused.

"It's probably because it's their first time in the Makai," explained Hiei, arms crossed. "They aren't yet used to the overpowering gases here."

"What gases?" asked Kuwabara. "The first time _I _came here, I didn't feel nothin' unusual."

"That's probably because you were much stronger than they are now," Kurama put in. "Not to mention, your sixth sense may have exposed you more, therefore building your immune system faster and stronger than theirs."

"Huh. Good point," said Kuwabara, pleased with the compliment.

"Here," said Kurama, handing a small bit of powder to Hiei, "I expected something like this to happen, so I prepared this. They simply need to breathe it and it will coat their bronchi and protect them from the fumes."

"Why didn't you give it to them before?" asked Yusuke.

"Because they will be receiving significantly less air and will therefore be much more lethargic. However, they should get used to it after the first few days and return to their normal selves."

"Gotcha."

Hiei held Sarah up in a sitting position and held the powder in front of her nose and watched as the granules slowly retreated inside her nostrils. Kurama did the same for Natalie.

"…They're not waking up," stated Yusuke.

"It won't take affect for a few more minutes," responded Kurama, sighing inwardly. "It takes a while for the bronchi to become completely coated."

So they waited until the girls woke up…

"Unnnhh," I groaned as I opened my eyes to a very blurry version of Hiei's face. "Unh-What happened?" I asked, rubbing my face and sitting up. I was so _tired_. Yusuke gave me his hand and pulled me up. I immediately felt dizzy and my knees broke from under me. "Wooaahh…" I groaned. I took in my surroundings and realized that we must be in the Makai.

"Wait a minute…isn't this…Yusuke's territory?" I asked, recognizing the barren wasteland.

"You bet!" said Yusuke cheerfully. "No better place to stay than my place!"

"Oh, Yusuke, you're not that stupid." I said pleadingly.

"Excuse me?"

"UUGGHHH!!" I shouted, immediately becoming dizzy. "YUSUKE!!!" I wasn't the only one feeling this way. A glance around me showed shaking heads and disappointed looks. Hiei was practically growling (while trying to help me up again).

"WHAT???!!"

"Don't you think it would be kind of a bad place to _hide_?!" said Natalie.

"………Oh…"

(Groans)

"So, now what do we do?" I asked no one in particular.

"I don't know," Yusuke responded, "any ideas, Kurama?"

Kurama looked thoughtful for a moment, and then looked at Natalie, concern in his eyes. Apparently, she noticed it, too.

"Kurama, if you know of a place, just say it. We need a place to hide, and if you think I won't like it, just think about what'll happen if we _don't_ have a hiding place."

The redhead sighed. "Well…Youko has a series of hidden caves, as you well know. It's an obvious place to hide, but no one knows where they are. And if they find one of them, we can simply move to the next one in the chain. Natalie?"

"…Okay."

I looked at her with worried eyes, remembering her last encounter with the Fox. I didn't know what had happened to cause him to come out and scare her so much, and I hadn't thought of asking her yet. Her face had apprehension written all over it, and her body had become tense. I had never seen anything but Shishi's death cause this kind of effect in her.

She glanced at me and smiled weakly, mouthing the words 'I'll be fine.'

I nodded in reply and looked at the others, taking in their current emotions: Yusuke just looked ashamed for his goof, but thankful for the cave save. Kuwabara looked miserable, probably thinking of his "darling Yukina." Kurama looked concerned about Natalie, eyes filled with guilt.

Finally, I looked at Hiei. His back was turned to the rest of us, and his headband was off. I walked over and looked at him, seeing that his Jagan was glowing. He was trying to find his sister. After a few seconds, he tied the white band back on, cursing under his breath.

"She's using the same talismans that prevented me from finding her the first time," he said so that only Kurama and I could hear. The redhead bowed his head in thought, then walked over to talk to Natalie and the others. Hiei continued to look out over the vast wasteland that was the boundary of Yusuke's territory, a look of severe anger in his eyes.

I looked at him curiously. Right after the news of Yukina, he had been furious, then relaxed when he was helping me with my fighting clothes, and now he seemed furious again.

I just stood there for a moment, knowing he wouldn't like it if I put my hand on his shoulder or anything like that. Finally, I said "We'll find her, Hiei, before anything happens to her. Don't worry."

"Shut up."

…I definitely hadn't expected that. I knew that he was angry, but…

"…I'm sorry…but getting mad at others isn't going to help. You of _all_ people should know that." I said this calmly and gently, not wanting to make him any more upset.

Before he could retort, I walked back over to where Yusuke and Kuwabara were almost in a fist-fight (whenever aren't they?) and Kurama was holding Natalie in his arms. When she saw me walking toward them, Natalie released herself and asked "Why are you crying?"

"Huh?" I rubbed my eyes and realized that they were wet and stinging. "Oh, I guess it's just an effect of the atmosphere." She nodded, but I could tell she didn't believe me. Neither did Kurama. Yusuke and Baka were now brawling in the dust, completely unaware of what was happening. "Well…let's get going!" I said with a fake cheery smile. "Lead the way Kurama!"

And we took off (thank GOODNESS I was a much better runner now)!

We made it to one of the caves by nightfall. Turns out, by "cave", the fox actually meant "cave _complex_"! About a hundred feet in from the mouth of the original cave, a series of smaller caves appeared, each with its own security system. We had divided up the caves already (Kurama and Natalie were the only ones paired up, so Yusuke, Kuwabara, Hiei, and me had our own "room"). Hiei hadn't even looked at me, much less spoken to me since he had snapped at me earlier. I didn't mind that much, or at least…that's what I told myself and Natalie, although I knew that it did bother me. I figured (hoped) that he just didn't want to apologize, and wasn't still mad at me.

I lay down on my bed (made of plant life) with my arms folded behind my head and my knees propped up and crossed. My mind wandered after a while to everything that had happened since we'd gotten here, and I realized how many questions there were. Why – when I had only ever seen death – did I see me and Natalie being taken to this universe? Why was I receiving the powers of the Phoenix before I was meant to? Why had that other Youko called me "Meeha"? Why had I ended up in my universe if my mother was in this one? What was with Hiei's mood swings? I felt like all of these questions had one common answer, and I just couldn't figure it out.

"Open up, Onna," called a familiar voice. I said the word that would cause the bamboo-like door to unlock itself.

As the figure walked in, I looked over and said "Hey, Bajito. Feeling any better?"

His brows furrowed in caution and confusion. "Aren't you mad at me?"

"Hm? Why would I be mad? You were feeling cruddy and just let it out the wrong way. Everyone does it," I responded matter-of-factly, hiding my relief that he really wasn't still mad.

"Hn." He snorted. "You really are strange," he chuckled, also hiding his relief (ineffectively) as he came over and sat on the edge of my plant bed. I remained in my relaxed position and looked back up at the ceiling again, closing my eyes and smiling as all tension left my body. "You seemed like you were deep in thought."

"Yeah…" I explained to him what I had been wondering about (somehow forgetting about the one referring to his mood swings…). When I was finished, he told me that he had been wondering the same things. I started to sit up, but he pressed me back down with a kiss, gentle at first, but getting more…fervent…by the second. When did he lose his cloak?...And his shirt?...Ummm…what happened to my jacket? And how did the ties of my (kimono?) get undone. Honestly? I didn't really care. My heart was beating so fast and I had felt like my entire body had tiny electric charges going through it. Right now, there's only me and him.


	15. Chapter 15

**Chapter 15**

"**Remembering"**

I opened my eyes to find myself cuddled against a very warm figure. I rested my forehead against the chest of the figure, and then looked up to find green eyes looking down at me.

Red hair was falling over the beautifully-crafted face, adding a very pleasant effect to the slight smile formed by those elegant lips. A large yet soft hand left its previous position (draped across my bare waist) and came up to my face, brushing a stray strand that was caught in eye. "Mmmmm," I verbally sighed in response to the feather-light yet loving touch of the one I loved.

We just lay there for a few moments, looking at each other. My eyes slid down his face to his neck, where a sore-looking red mark had made its permanent home, knowing that I had one to match. I remembered the feeling of that pair of canines sinking into my flesh. It hurt at first, but then something flowed through me, like a wave of his essence, and I wanted it to last forever. I had wanted to do the same to him, and he agreed all too willingly. It had been much easier to pierce his skin than I had expected.

Finally he leaned over for a kiss that was soft and gentle, but full of the love and passion left over from a few hours ago. I returned the kiss and shivered as his hands traced the sides of my waist and further. I did the same, caressing his bare chest, stomach, and back muscles, getting a very clear reaction from him.

When we paused for breath, I said "I love you."

"I love you, too, Natalie," responded Kurama, giving me one last peck before sitting up in the plant bed. He swung his bare legs over the side and grabbed a pile of clothes on the floor. Handing the kimono and loose pants to me, he began to dress himself. I let my eyes wander over his beautiful lean yet muscular figure before sitting up myself and beginning to do the same. I could feel his eyes on me as well, and felt the same little prickly feeling as before, and considered something rather naughty, but decided against it.

"Hey…"

"Yes, love?"

"Is there somewhere I can take a bath or something?" I _really_ needed a good soak. I had no idea that I would get so sore.

"Of course," replied the redhead, now fully dressed. "Follow me-"

"Hey KURAMA, NATALIE!! Are you in there?!"

"Yeah, Sarah, just a sec!" (sigh) "She really knows how to ruin a moment."

"Hmhmhmhm." The chuckling redhead said the word of entry and I was surprised to see Sarah in her underwraps and a white towel around her neck.

"Hey, Kurama?" she asked, "Is there any place where I can take a bath or something?" We cracked up. Finally, I explained to her that I had said almost the exact same thing only a few seconds ago.

"Kurama will show us where it is." As soon as I finished this sentence, she nodded, looked down at the base of my neck, then at his. She understood what she was seeing and smiled, winking at me and mouthing 'good job.'

I blushed and shooed her out of the room. Of course, I let Kurama stay in…

Once I had finished changing, I opened the door and let the redhead walk through before following after him. I started walking beside him and could see that Sarah had stepped back a little to give us some privacy. She had a totally wicked grin on her that meant that she was up to something.

I felt an arm slip around my waist and smiled warmly at its owner. He leaned down and said "Next time we'll use the private pool."

I smiled in silent agreement.

We walked for a few more seconds before Kurama stopped, said one of those weird words to a door, and walked through as it opened. "I'll be back in while," he said. "The others might want to do the same thing after they wake up." He walked back out the door and spoke the locking word. Sarah and I were left alone.

"So…" she began. "How was it?"

I looked at her and saw that she was grinning absolutely maliciously.

"How was what?" (I knew perfectly well what she meant)

"You know perfectly well what I mean."

"OH, that!"

"Yes, that!! Now talk."

(sigh)

(Flashback)

The redhead sighed. "Well…Youko has a series of hidden caves, as you well know. It's an obvious place to hide, but no one knows where they are. And if they find one of them, we can simply move to the next one in the chain. Natalie?"

"…Okay." 'NO!' My thoughts screamed, remembering last time Youko had been mentioned. Kurama and I had been…spending time together (meaning we were making out). Suddenly, his eyes had turned gold and he had begun pressing me further. I told him 'no', but Kurama wasn't acting like himself anymore. He had been groping and…other things, and I had tried to push him off, only to have him start again. Finally I had kneed him in the groin, causing him to retreat. By then, I could see his red hair turning a silky silver color. He backed away and this weird fog had appeared. When it cleared, Kurama wasn't standing there anymore! It was this weird fox-man-type-thing, and I knew that it was the Youko I had been warned about. I had screamed, and within a few seconds, Sarah came barging in just as the Youko started advancing with an angry look on his face.

'Kurama recently said that he had tighter control,' I thought. 'You can trust him.'

I caught Sarah looking at me weirdly, and I assured her that I was fine. She nodded and walked over to where Hiei was standing on his own, fists clenched. Kurama came over and embraced me. I let him, enjoying the comforting warmth radiating from his body. After a while, Yusuke and Kuwabara started fighting about something, and Hiei had yelled at Sarah, who was now walking away. I looked at her, concerned, and she reassured me in much the same way I had done. Then, we were off.

Once we got to the caves, I was feeling much better, and got off of Kurama's back (I had been riding piggyback, since I still wasn't as good at running as the others – I HATE running!!). He led me to a room with a bamboo door after seeing to the others, said something I didn't understand, then opened the door.

We walked inside and he shut the door. I dropped my sack on the floor along with my jacket. My thoughts wandered to home: my parents, my house, my brothers and their fiancés, college, neighborhood friends, anything and everything I used to think of as home. I missed it so much, and I wanted nothing more than to see everyone again.

"Are you alright?" I felt a warm hand on my shoulder and looked into bright emerald eyes, filled with concern and longing.

"Yeah, I just…miss home…that's all." Arms enveloped me as my vision began to blur and sting. "You and Sarah are the only reasons I want to stay here," I muffled and sniffed into his shirt, reaching up to grab onto his shoulders. Realizing that I may have just insulted him (this is his home after all), I amended "It's not that I don't like it here. Everything is so amazing…I'm just homesick."

Fingers traced through my hair and a soft, resonant voice said, "I understand. I'm sure that Koenma can find a way for you to see them again. But…weren't you in college on the opposite side of the country from them?"

"…Yes…it's just that…it's different somehow. I can't call them, see them for the holidays, e-mail, meet up, or…anything."

"…I wish there was some way I could help you."

"No! Please! Don't feel guilty, I didn't mean for that…I just wanted…I don't…"

"Shhhh…It's okay." He pulled away, still cradling my head, so I could see that he was smiling slightly at me. I wanted so much to be with him. Really _be_ with him…forever.

"I want…I want to be with you…forever…" I said, barely whispering my thoughts out loud. "I _love _you, Kurama." He leaned in to kiss me gently, then said (lips still touching mine, tickling my mouth and chin) –

"I love you, too, Natalie." Resuming our kissing, he started to make them deeper, and I soon felt his tongue entering my mouth. I sent mine into his as well, wanting and longing.

And loving.

"There is a way for us to be together (kiss) forever," he whispered, same as before. "A binding that will ensure that no matter how far apart we are (kiss), a part of one will still be with the other."

"How?" My voice was barely audible, and my eyes were barely open.

"It's called 'marking,' and it's something that demons do. It's much more permanent than marriage, and much more enjoyable."

My mind barely even heard, much less cared, about the use of the word "demon" in that sentence. "Isn't it something like what a vampire does?" I responded.

"Similar, but not quite as…well…fatal." He was chuckling again, sending shivers down my throat, which he was now…inspecting…with his mouth. (When did we get on the plant bed?) Suddenly, he stopped, and looked me in the eye. I was relieved to see that they were still pure emerald.

"Is this what you want, Natalie?" he asked. "Once it's done, there's no turning back."

I was touched. Leaning in to kiss him again, I said-

"Yes."

Our passion continued, and I barely noticed that my kimono was off, as were his clothes. All I knew was that I was close to him, sharing this moment with him, and that was all that I wanted.

Well…maybe not _all_ that I wanted.

I realized that my mouth had nothing to do, and that my neck was being attacked by tongue and lips. He started sucking on it until it was numb, then he bit into it. The pain was huge at first, but then there was only pleasure. He licked up the blood and made sure that it had stopped bleeding before baring his neck to me. I had no second thoughts whatsoever. I did the same thing he had done (hoping I wasn't doing it in the wrong place), then felt like a very small portion of me was being replaced with something from him. It was a beautiful feeling, and I felt that unbreakable bond being formed.

The rest of the night was pure magic as we expressed our love the human way.

(End flashback)

"…"

"…"

"Wow," I said in response to my friend's story. I took the towel off of my neck and sat down in the pool with my daydreaming best friend. "Sounds amazing."

"Sarah, it was by _far_ the most amazing thing that ever happened to…YOU TOO??!!"

'Oops! I guess she saw my neck, too.'

"Ummm…yeah."

"SARAH! TELL ME TELL ME TELL ME!!!"

"My story was pretty much the same as yours, only there was no talking and the processes were reversed (meaning love first, marking second) and now I'm so freakin' _sore_!"

"Tell me about it," said Natalie, leaning back again. "I had no idea that he could do that."

"…I'm definitely going to get addicted."

"Sarah! You dirty girl! (sigh) Oh well, same goes for me."

… "CANNONBAAAAAAALLLLLL!!!!" We both screamed as Yusuke and Kuwabara came jumping in, shouting and yelling. A huge tidal wave followed their "dives," leaving me and Natalie soaked and laughing hysterically.


	16. Chapter 16

**Chapter 16**

**Private Talks**

"CANNONBAAAAAALLLLL!!!" We screamed as two figures dove into the pool from behind us, shouting 'CANNONBALL!' A huge wave poured over us, getting us soaked. We started laughing uncontrollably.

Yusuke popped up out of the water and, hands on hips, said "Bet we surprised you, huh?" Suddenly, Kuwabara came bursting to the surface to grapple with Yusuke and dragged them both under the water. "AAHH(gurgle splurt splut)!" That only made us laugh even more. When they came jumping up again, I said –

"Yeah, but not as much as it surprised_ you_!" (more laughter)

"Now, now, be kind," said another voice. Natalie smiled as the redhead came walking back into the room, Hiei right behind him. I smiled and waved, earning a smirk. A thought suddenly occurred to me…ummm…

When he was close enough to hear without anyone else listening in, I asked "How much of that did you guys hear?"

"_We_ heard nearly everything" he motioned to himself and Kurama, "but I doubt that those idiots heard a thing over the sound of their own voices."

I blushed and looked down, mortified. I could see Natalie doing the same (she must have asked Kurama the same question…and gotten the same answer). "Hey, she's my best friend. We hide absolutely nothing from each other," I said, trying to regain my somewhat diminished pride.

"Does that mean you told her about the other thing?"

"…No. I want to be able to talk to her alone when I do."

"Weren't you just alone with her?"

"Oh, please. With our new connection, I could feel you coming. I assumed that the others were with you, and I was right so HA!"

"'Ha', yourself." He traced my mark with his finger (gently, as he knew that it was still sore), then walked away to sit in the grass nearby. Leaning back, his eyes closed and he began to nap. I looked at him, remembering that…situation.

As our energies had "mixed", something else…something strange…had happened. I still wasn't sure what it was, but I felt like something had taken over me and…_overpowered Hiei!_ He had almost _fainted_ from it. Thankfully, he didn't (that would've been…awkward…), and seemed to be back to normal right afterward.

Great, _another_ question.

Anyhow, I wanted to tell Natalie, who I knew in turn would tell Kurama, who I hoped would have an answer…or at least some sort of explanation. I knew that it had to have something to do with the Phoenix, but still… "AHHHH!!"

I screamed as I was dragged under the water. Opening my eyes, I saw an orange head wearing an annoying goofy smile. I kicked the jerk in the face and swam back upward. I broke through the surface and started coughing and spluttering.

""You jerk!!"" I saw that Natalie was yelling, too. Yusuke must have gotten her. The two doofs were laughing. Hiei and Kurama didn't look too amused, though. Hiei was actually in the water, holding Kuwabara up by his T-shirt. Kurama was just shaking his head at both of them (Yusuke and Kuwabara). While Hiei was giving Kuwabara the whole "hands off!" speech, I snuck over and lunged at the spiky-haired demon.

"Gotcha!" I shouted as we (me, Hiei…and Kuwabara – oops) fell over into the water. I jumped back up and started laughing. Hiei came up next, and not with an amused expression either…oops again. Kuwabara came up last and coughed repeatedly, then ran out of the water.

"Onna…" Hiei snarled.

"Sorry, I couldn't resist." Pride diminished.

He turned around and got out of the water. "Hn. Stupid Onna. I could've avoided that easily if I'd wanted to." I couldn't see his face, but I had a feeling that he was smirking at me again. I will never understand that boy (even though my understanding is what got us together…). Oh, well. I smiled anyway.

So we just hung out for a while, Yusuke and Kuwabara decided to climb the mini-cliff (like ten feet high) and do a few horrible dives, two of which included unintended belly-flops and back-flops. I watched and wished I knew how to dive (I used to try to do flips but they always ended in back-flops…). After a little less than an hour though, the guys left, leaving me and Natalie to talk.

I told her about what had happened. At first, she seemed to find it humorous. However, she saw the seriousness in my face and agreed to ask Kurama. So, she left and I was left all alone lying on my little patch of grass (letting my hair dry out)…or…so I thought. About to drift off into a nap, I suddenly felt a presence above me. Opening my eyes, I saw that pair of blood-red eyes that I loved so much.

"Can I help you?"

He walked around until he was sitting beside me. He just sat there silently, looking at the grass.

"Are you okay?" I asked tentatively. It was weird to see him like this.

"I'm fine. The question is if you are or not."

That was unexpected.

"Why wouldn't I be?" My brows furrowed slightly.

"…"

"Come on, just say it already, Bajito."

"…Were you ready?" This was said so quietly and hesitantly that at first I couldn't understand what he had said. When I finally understood what he was talking about I exhaled in relief.

"Is that all? Bajito, if I wasn't ready…okay, look…(I swung around to face him, forcing him to look at me) If I had been the least bit hesitant, had any doubt…if I had been even the slightest bit unsure, then I wouldn't have gone through with it. I did it because I wanted to, because I _was_ ready to. Okay?"

He looked away slightly. "…You were in pain."

"It hurts the first time for every single human female in the universe. But _only_ the first time. Is that what you've been so worried about?"

"…"

I leaned in to kiss him on the cheek, then said slyly "If you don't believe me…" then whispered something in his ear. He grinned and I could've sworn that his eyes turned a deeper shade of red. All doubt left his face and I felt very pleased with myself. So much for being sore.

Kurama was left deep in thought. "It's most likely exactly what she thought it was: just a reaction of the Phoenix and the Dragon mating again. However, it wouldn't hurt to get a second opinion." The redhead continued to think as I sat down next to him (we were back in the room).

"She just wanted me to let you know and see what you thought."

"Thank you for telling me, Nat."

"That's the first time you've ever called me 'Nat'." Normally, he stuck to addressing me as "Natalie" or even "Sweet", so this came as something of a shock to me.

"Do you not like it?"

"NO, no, it's fine!! I just hadn't expected it…is all…"

He chuckled at me…AGAIN!!

"Will you stop doing that?"

"What?"

"Laughing at me!"

"I'm not laughing at you."

"YES YOU ARE!!" I tackled him, laughing all the while. Just imagine the sight we made…wrestling on that plant bed. I had to admit, I was glad that last night hadn't changed anything between us. Actually, if anything it made us closer and more comfortable with each other. My thoughts traveled to Hiei and Sarah, and I hoped that the same had happened for them. She had seemed so happy when I talked to her, and Hiei seemed less tense (but just a little bit) until Kuwabara practically drowned her. Everyone could notice the change in the little koorime. He just seemed…well, I wouldn't necessarily say _happier_ (just 'cause that seems a little too weird)…but, more…okay, happier. Happier, less aloof, a little gentler, not always frowning, yet still strong, able, agile, and determined. It was a nice change.

"Told ya."

"Hn."


	17. Chapter 17

**Chapter 17**

"**Internal Wars"**

It had been three weeks since we arrived at the cave complex. Koenma seemed to be doing his job, as we hadn't had a single visitor. I hadn't had a single vision or "feeling" or anything, and Hiei and I were either training, eating, sleeping, fighting, or making love. Natalie and Kurama were constantly all googly-eyed and perfect-couplish (cute…but somewhat annoying). I was starting to get used to Hiei's constant mood swings, and just let any insults he threw at me slide right off. We all continued with our lessons, and I had almost completely mastered the whole "wind thing." The only thing left was…

Flying.

I was both excited and extremely nervous as the sun came up, marking the end of the third week and the beginning of the day of my first "test-flight." I could levitate a few feet off the ground, but only for about three seconds. The guys believed that if I thought that I was really in a life-threatening situation, it would just sort of…turn on.

So. What's the most clichéd thing one could possibly think of?

Throwing me off of a REALLY high cliff!!…this was where I began to groan and beg "Please! There must be some other way!! Anything but that!!"…Okay, not really, but I wasn't exactly thrilled about it. Neither was Hiei, as it brought up the memory of his last journey over a cliff. He was so upset that he didn't even show up when I was about to make my freefall ten minutes later.

"Come on, Sarah," Yusuke rooted, "We know you can do it."

"Yeah," cheered Kuwabara. "You've been able to do just about everything else so far."

Kurama and Natalie joined in with the cheers. A shrill cry echoed through the air, reminding me of the large phoenix, Puu, who had joined us only two days ago. The plan was that I would ride on Puu with the others for a few minutes, then levitate just long enough for the giant bird to swoop from underneath me, leaving nothing between me and the ground two thousand feet below. (Okay, so I wasn't exactly falling off of a cliff…but it's similar!!) I was still pissed at Hiei for not showing up. I mean, how childish could he possibly get. Oh well.

I climbed onto the bird with the help of Yusuke, who was already on. We helped everyone else on, and then Puu leapt off the ledge with another deafening shriek. I delighted in the sight of the beautiful forest below me, before getting into my little Buddhist position and meditating. I let the wind that was thrashing against me be pulled into my body, releasing it and directing it to the ground below. Being this high up, it took a lot of wind power and concentration. I was sweating before I knew it. I felt the warmth of Puu's feathered body be replaced by freezing cold air and I knew that I was levitating. I continued to concentrate, trying very hard not to think of the ground, Hiei, fear, or anything but the movement of the air. Finally, when I felt comfortable, I opened my eyes.

I was considerably lower, but still maintaining my height. I had expected that I would drop a little before I was comfortable enough to let my mind wander, but not this much. Oh well, the important thing was…

"I'm flying!!!" I yelled in delight and spread out my body Peter Pan style, absolutely loving the feeling of that weightlessness, that ability to go anywhere and do anything. I heard cheers and harsh echoes to my right, and saw that the others were at least twenty feet away. I decided to give them a show and flipped in the air, only to find myself spiraling toward the ground. Panicked, I resumed my meditating position and quickly regained my balance.

"Guess I'm not quite ready for tricks yet," I mumbled to myself, mortified. Luckily, the others decided not to rub it in my face (only because Natalie and Kurama glared at Yusuke and Kuwabara, daring them to say something). I continued to soar and was feeling incredible, when something happened. It was the worst thing that could happen at that particular moment.

I lost consciousness as pain filled my body and I was consumed by visions.

***

"SARAH!!!" Everyone yelled as she plummeted toward the ground five hundred feet below, a look of terror on her face.

"Don't worry," Kurama shouted, looking like he needed to take his own advice. "Hiei's been following us this entire way on foot to make sure that he can catch her if she falls."

"Well she's falling right now!!!" screamed Natalie, still panicking.

"And Hiei will catch her…LOOK!" said the redhead, pointing as a small black figure sprung up from the trees (at least fifty feet into the air…man, he's a good jumper!!) and fell back down, another small figure (Sarah) in his arms.

Hiei watched in horror as the girl fell toward him like a missile. Everything had been going so perfectly, and then it just stopped…what had happened?! His question was answered as he leapt from the trees and grabbed hold of the convulsing body. Her face was distorted in an all-too-familiar way, only this time…

Her eyes were completely black.

It took him a moment to realize that it was just because her pupils had dilated to their max, creating a demonic look (no pun intended). A scream erupted from the figure as fake blood gushed from it in several places. He refused to put her down, even though she was thrashing around in his grip, unintentionally slashing his body, adding his blood to the mix. He had never seen her have one this bad, and he had no idea what to do. Whatever it was, it was also taking much longer than any of her other ones. It had already lasted over ten minutes, and they were back at the cave, waiting for the Puu bunch. He went inside and laid her down as soon as he got to their room. She still had not stopped screaming and was getting hoarse along with the horrible stench of her own blood (she had injured herself many times despite Hiei's attempts to restrain her).

Only a few seconds later, the fox showed up, running in to see why Sarah was making those horrible choking noises. He was followed by Yusuke, then Natalie, and finally Kuwabara. Hiei quickly explained what he had seen. "What's going on here, fox?!" the frantic fire demon demanded.

"I'm not sure," replied the redhead, rubbing his temples in strained thought as Yusuke and Kuwabara got to work tying the writhing girl's arms and legs up so that she would stop attacking herself. They then got to work holding her down so that she wouldn't dislocate or break anything in trying to escape her bonds.

"Call Genkai," ordered the koorime.

"Hiei," protested the kitsune, "if we have any contact with anyone in the ningenkai, the Spirit Squad will be able to detect and track-"

"I DON'T GIVE A DAMN WHAT THE SPIRIT SQUAD DOES!!" yelled the enraged and desperate demon, baring his fangs at his long-time best friend.

Kurama breathed in deeply, then exhaled before closing his eyes and saying "You're right. Genkai will know the best solution, being a psychic herself." He took out his communicator, glanced at Natalie, who was sobbing and frantically talking to Sarah, trying to bring her back, and called the Master.

"_What is it?_" came that familiarly harsh voice. Kurama simply turned the screen to the scene they were all looking at. The pink-haired old lady took it all in, then asked "_Is this the first episode she's had since she got here?_" The redhead nodded to the screen. "_And is this the first time she's had any psychic incidences there?_" Another nod. "_Chances are that being in the Demon World has enhanced her abilities. It also probably doesn't help that the Makai is a much more violent place than the Ningenkai. It will take a while for her to return to normal, as she seems to be having a bombardment of precognitions. Make sure that she does not move as much as humanly possible. And don't worry, I created a spiritual block before I answered the call. If anyone asks, I was just meditating and didn't want any disturbances._"

"Thank you Master Genkai," responded the fox demon, hanging up and looking over at Hiei, who had listened to the whole thing. He growled in frustration and left the room, only returning when he had regained his bearings. When he came in, he saw that Kurama was already applying ointment to the blisters and cuts surrounding the still-screaming woman's ties. He had summoned more plant-like restraints so that she could not move an inch. The other two (Kuwabara and Natalie, as Yusuke had gone back outside to take care of Puu) were just standing aside, waiting for direction from either Kurama or Hiei. The dragon was the one to give them orders.

"Leave."

Natalie was outraged. "I am NOT just going to leave Sarah here when she's practically DYING!!" Desperate tears were streaming down the poor girl's face as she pleaded to stay.

"Love," Kurama soothed, "I think that it's best if you try to get some rest. There's nothing more that can be done. We just have to wait for it to stop as the Master said."

As emerald eyes were reinforced with amber, the already frightened girl was shocked into silence and obedience. She nodded, eyes wide with desperation and hurt, and left the room, looking once more at her tortured friend now screaming completely silently, as she had worn out her voice. Kurama wiped up the fresh blood around her mouth, gave Hiei a meaningful look, and then went off to comfort his mate.

The koorime stood next to the bed, watching his love suffer unknown tortures. What hurt the most was that he knew that he couldn't do anything to stop it, and he HATED feeling so helpless. This continued for the rest of the day and deep into the night, by which point Sarah was so exhausted that the only distortion on her face was the slight but constant wincing and the sweat pouring down her face. Other than that, her mouth was almost closed and her face looked almost relaxed.

Hiei, too, was emotionally exhausted, and found himself drooping as he leaned against the wall, arms and legs crossed. He'd been in that room all day, watching and waiting. Just as he thought that he was about to fall asleep, he heard something that he thought he'd never hear again…

Silent, calm, normal breathing.

He immediately woke up and rushed over to look at his mate. Her face was completely relaxed, her breathing was okay (other than the slight rasping from tearing up her throat and lungs), and she looked as if she was peacefully sleeping. He stayed for a few moments to make sure, and when she didn't change, he flitted out of the room and into the cooking area, where everyone else was situated, kept awake with worry.

"She's sleeping," he said, never more relieved in his life. The gaze of the group shifted slightly.

"No she's not," whispered a raspy voice.

He whirled around just in time to catch a collapsing Sarah. She looked horrible, but she stayed awake long enough to gasp "I'm sorry for worrying you," (she turned to Natalie, who was snuggled up against her fox) "I could really use some of those healing powers now, Nat." Then she fainted into Hiei's arms. Everyone just stared for a few moments, until Kurama jumped up (bringing Natalie with him) and raced off to Sarah's room. The rest started to follow, Hiei carrying Sarah, still unconscious. When they got there, they found Kurama staring in disbelief at the bed she had just been on. All eyes turned from the bed to the girl sleeping in the fire demon's arms.

The indestructible bindings he had enhanced with his own spirit energy had been burned to ash.


	18. Chapter 18

**Chapter 18**

"**Sarah…or the Phoenix?"**

All eyes were on the pile of ashes that had once been one of Kurama's strongest vines, enhanced with his own spirit energy. Millions of questions were racing through each mind as Hiei looked down at the unconscious figure in his hold. He hadn't noticed before (he was just so relieved to see her up), but now he noticed that something was…different. She seemed to glow a little…

Less…

That was it. She didn't seem as radiant as usual, even in the state she was in right now. Her skin was pale, her face stoic and breathing mellow. Yes, she was unconscious, but even then, she should have a look of fear, relief, pain…_something_ at least. Now, there was nothing. He may not have known exactly what happened, but it was pretty damn clear that _something_ happened.

**And he wanted to know what.**

Kurama looked at the vines in shock. Not even Sensui could have destroyed the _fortui_ _vine_…easily. And yet the half-dead girl had completely obliterated them. Natalie was shocked as well, but didn't seem as worried about that as she was about Sarah's current state.

It was four days before she woke up, and everyone had noticed a change in her. She had a very stoic and emotionless feel about her. She never spoke and refused to go to her training sessions. She stayed outdoors at all times, not even coming in at night to sleep. She ignored Natalie and Hiei and every remark sent her way. She never looked at anyone, and…one more thing…

Her eyes had changed from the color of the ocean to the shade of a stormy sky. If one looked close enough, they could probably see lightening streaking through the gray-blue irises.

They were unable to get in contact with either Genkai or Koenma, and they weren't quite sure what had happened. Everyone hoped that neither had gotten into trouble, but that was the only reason that Genkai wouldn't answer her calls.

Kurama assumed that it was the Phoenix making the changes in the girl. It must be getting stronger, even taking over like Youko did with him. Natalie thought that it might just be the impact of so many visions coming at once. Yusuke and Kuwabara were actually being serious for once, and were just as worried and confused as everyone else. Hiei…Hiei was just lost. She didn't speak to him, look at him, or hang around him like she used to. He could see none of the Sarah he had come to understand in this confident, silent, stoic creature before him now.

And he hated that.

Many times in the past week he had yelled at her, trying to force an answer from that padlocked mouth. He tried doing so physically, but even if he had her pinned to the ground with his katana against her neck, she remained silent and still until he let her go, just staring at him. This was the only way that she would even look at him, and he despised that even more than when she ignored him.

If all of this wasn't enough, they were starting to get visitors. Thankfully, they were just low-class demons instead of Koenma's men. However, there was a catch.

They were messengers.

Messengers sent by the powerful demoness who claimed to be Sarah's birth mother. They all carried the same notice: 'Be here by December 18th or the ice demoness is killed alongside her brother.' Each one of these messengers sent the short fire demon a small sneer. They would not tell the Reikai Tantei where "here" was, but they didn't seem to need to. Every morning, the guys would wake up and go outside to see that Sarah was staring off into the distance, but all anyone else could see or feel was the surrounding forest filled with D-class demons and the like.

This particular morning, they woke up to see no Sarah at all. Instead, they felt her ki disappearing into the forest, and after about two milliseconds of panic, the team (Natalie riding piggyback again) took off in her direction. Soon, they felt the speck of white energy halt, and once they caught up, they saw why. She was completely surrounded by men and women in uniform.

The Spirit Squad.

"We have come for one named Natalie Slater a.k.a. the _Black Angel_."

Everyone started and Kurama automatically dropped the girl onto the ground and took a protective fighting stance. The others followed suit and formed a circle…except for Yusuke.

"Been a while guys! Remember me?" He grinned maliciously at them; enjoying the looks of panic on the faces of the Squad as they recognized the man they had tried to kill in order to prevent the birth of a powerful demon. Unfortunately the plan had backfired, and Yusuke had emerged a full-fledged demon only to prove that he wasn't evil. They must still be embarrassed, as several of them actually stepped back and muttered something like "How could we not?" and averting their eyes.

However, the captain held his ground and repeated "Where is Ms. Natalie Slater?" He clearly knew where she was, though, as he had noticed the small figure hiding behind a crouching redhead and begun to advance.

"Ms. Slater. You are hereby under arrest-"

"On what charges?"

Everyone spun around to face the speaker, one who had not spoken in days and now had a firm grip on the captain's shoulder. Sarah's voice was as calm as if she was telling the time, although…her eyes betrayed her. They were wide in anger, pupils shrunken in impatience. The captain gasped under the sudden pressure on his shoulder, and looked to see the girl's hand clamped onto it. He looked at his team, wondering why they hadn't stopped her, but his gaze was met with a reflection of his own astonishment from every member of the squad.

No one had seen her move a muscle, not even the ex-Spirit Detective.

Only Hiei and Kurama had seen it coming, but only by watching her eyes as her gaze intensified.

"Let me guess," continued that cold, threatening voice so unlike the lively upbeat chirp the team had become so accustomed to, "King Yama doesn't much like sharing hid power over the transformation and transportation of souls, and he believes the Black Angel poses a threat to that control."

The air was steadily getting thicker and heavier with Natalie's livid protector. However, it was completely unlike Sarah's life energy: They didn't know of any _real_ spirit energy she might possess, because all of her powers supposedly came from the Phoenix. This was unexpected. Then, a feeling they had all felt several times before came about. The feeling of overwhelming power emanating from a single being.

"Well, I have a message for _him_. Natalie is no more a threat to the worlds than _he_ is. Allow him to think on that for a while." She released him with a glaring threat. The stunned leader backed away from the increasingly dangerous creature. "If you come back…" she stared at them so hatefully that it did not even look like Sarah anymore. They were now looking at a pale-faced, angry, hauntingly powerful being.

"…I will _not_…be merciful." And Sarah was gone.


	19. Chapter 19

**Chapter 19**

**The Realm Between Realms**

The Spirit Squad left hurriedly, ready to get out of the demon world but not so ready to relay the message that Sarah had given them. As soon as they were gone, her eyes returned to her now-normal half-lidded, emotionless stare. Natalie was nearly in shock. NEVER had she seen her friend that serious….not when that bastard had attacked her. Not when that mirror demon had tried to kill Sarah. She didn't know her best friend anymore. What's more? She was _afraid_ of her. Tears began to build up in her eyes. Kurama made shushing noises and embraced her, trying to comfort her. The brunette cried into the redhead's shirtfront, confused, scared, and shocked. He could only wait for a few moments, however, before kissing her on the forehead and picking her up, speeding off to catch up with the rest of the group.

Sarah had continued on as if nothing had happened. The overwhelming sense of energy had faded. Everything around them was silent but for a few native animals. All of the lower-class demons had fled from the force that had disrupted their daily lives, and there were no higher-class demons around to investigate this intrusion. She ran at a steady pace, either not noticing or just not caring that she had a group behind her. Not once did she glance back; not once did she slow down, hesitate, or stop. It was as if her body was being pulled to her destination, and she clearly knew where she was headed.

Hiei was deep in thought, watching the girl's back and keeping just as continuous a pace as she. He wanted to tear her to pieces for doing this to him. Making him fall in love with her and then turning into someone he didn't even know. He wanted to blame her for all of his pain. He wanted to yell at her. He wanted to scare her, hurt her. But more than anything….

He wanted her back.

His demon side was telling him to kill her for what she did. What she was still doing to him. But the side that Sarah Nabors had uncovered; the side that had been forced into him by hanging around humans, spirits, and his team; that part of him….wanted to cry. It wanted to hurt itself, to replace the emotional pain with the physical kind: the kind he could handle. He knew how to deal with and ignore just about any kind of bodily torture that he encountered. But nothing could have prepared him for this. With Sarah, he had been safe. He had opened his heart for only the third time in his life, the first being when he found Yukina, and the second being when Yusuke and the others had first offered him friendship. But this was a new part of his heart. Everywhere around him for centuries in the demon plane, he had seen creatures of all sorts and classes, and there was one thing that most of them had in common: they had a mate. Never had he believed in that kind of relationship. Yes, he saw them everywhere he went, human world and makai alike, but he had thought that surely they must be in it for the lust and whatever perks came from such a bond. Of course, people talked about a deeper sort of union, connection, attachment. But until he met Sarah, Hiei Jaganshi had never thought about it twice.

So nothing could have made him believe that she could take that kind of security away. And now that it was gone, he could feel something else: a hatred so fierce that only love could bring it about. He could not stand the sight of that being in front of him. What right did she have to be so confident? To breed an air of power so full that nothing could defeat her? Why on earth should she be the one who can feel nothing at all and have no memory whatsoever of what had passed between them?!

Suddenly, the fire demon's eyes widened in realization. He remembered something…her eyes! When Natalie had been attacked, her eyes had changed. They had not only grown with rage, but the color…they had returned to the beautiful bright blue that only belonged to Sarah! The _real_ Sarah!! His head snapped around to look behind him, seeing the dark brunette on his best friend's back with a sudden hunger, a plan already formed in his head. He stopped. He gave no warning, no signal. He just stopped and turned around. So did the others, Kuwabara yelling at him in surprise, Yusuke looking at him with a puzzled expression. Kurama saw his gaze and stooped to let his lover down. Crouching into a protective stance for the second time in the past two hours, he assessed his friend and soon-to-be rival. The little youkai's pupils were shrunken to decimal points, the whites of his eyes streaked with red lines. The redhead tensed and his brows knitted together slowly as grief took over him.

Hiei was going mad….

The short man looked behind himself, and sure enough, there she was. Halted, facing him with calloused eyes, the irises dark and ominous. Hiei smirked and turned to once again face his newest opponent, barely seeing that it was the first friend he ever made. He only saw an obstacle. One that kept him from his way to bring her back….

Without hesitating, Hiei charged at Kurama, unsheathing his sword and slashing. And it began.

Hiei was intent on his goal. He was not holding back in the slightest. Kurama was already sweating, hindered by his desire to keep his friend from harm while still protecting Natalie. Yusuke and Kuwabara had grabbed her, having seen the quick glance their friend had given them: a pleading look, and quickly brought her away from the fight. Hiei did not miss this. With a deranged snarl, he immediately switched tactics and went for the two human detectives. Yusuke aimed and fired a Reigun at the manic demon. He dodged it easily and slammed the hilt of his sword onto Yusuke's head in a maneuver that defied logic. Kuwabara came from behind him with his Spirit Sword and struck. Hiei blocked and they locked hilts, using their weight and strength to try to overcome each other. Faster than light, Hiei freed his sword from Kuwabara's and threw the carrot-top to the side with the flat of his blade, knocking him out just as he had the brown-eyed hero.

Natalie was there. She was right in front of him, staring wide-eyed, frozen in place with fear and indecision. She had no weapons with her. No means to protect herself at all. And before she knew it, she had a katana at her neck and a bloodthirsty fire demon at her back.

"What will you do now?"

The question came from a strong yet calm voice. The speaker stood beside a redheaded man stuck in a sphere of light. She had held him back! Why?!

"Did you not hear me? I said 'What will you do now?'"

Her voice was not Sarah's….her eyes were not Sarah's…._she was not Sarah!_ Hiei was in a battle inside himself. What was happening?? It hadn't worked! WHY!?!

"You won't do anything will you? No. You can't really kill her. You have lost that indifference to life and death that you once had. You will not even hurt her. But I must ask. Why would you do this in the first place? Surely you didn't think that it would change anything. She is not coming back. It is me now. I am the one that inhabits this body, and she has neither the power nor the necessary will to break out of her own mind. You should give up. There is nothing that you or any of her friends can do. She is gone. Move on."

….._No_...._I have to get out_…._let me out_……_he's hurting so much_….please _just let me _out_!!!!!_

"She is being held captive in her own thoughts and subconscious."

_Please…just for a moment…let me speak to him…_

"It won't be long before she disappears completely, fading into nonexistence. Nothing can stop it."

_No…he'll destroy himself…I'm begging you…_

"I know what you're thinking. 'But she was there. She came out.' Yes, she did. I underestimated her will. Her connections to you and that girl are far deeper than I had anticipated."

_I will get out…I will…I have to…I will…_

"But my will and my powers are infinitely stronger than hers. There is no hope for her."

_You're lying…you have to be…Hiei…_

_Hiei…_

And then the corpse of Sarah turned heel, released the fox demon, and sprinted into the trees. Hiei only watched. A single black gem clinked on the ground next to his feet, and he released the sobbing brunette, handing her over to his friend.


	20. Chapter 20

**Hey all! I'm back (finally)!**

**I hope you all noticed that I've made a few minor changes to the story, changed the girls' personalities a bit. I started writing this when I was in my early teens, so I've been trying to edit the story to make Sarah and Natalie sound more like they're 18 rather than 13 xD.**

**If you want, I'd encourage going back and reading the whole story through again. You'll also (hopefully) notice that there are (hopefully) much fewer grammatical errors.**

**Enjoy! And please give me some reviews (I do love reading them 3)!**

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**Chapter 20**

**The Realm Between Realms (continued)**

He was so ashamed of himself…how could he let himself act like that?! How could he think that his stupid plan would actually _work!?_ What was _wrong_ with him?!

Hiei blindly rushed through the trees, fighting back his frustration and hurt.

* * *

Kurama tried desperately to soothe Natalie and keep up with the others at the same time. Sarah had taken off again as soon as she had finished speaking to Hiei. The Youko inside him was livid with rage at what Sarah had done to his friend, his lover, and himself. But…it hadn't _been_ Sarah! The Phoenix had just said so herse-…_it_self. The redhead began to grind his teeth in anger and irritation. Why hadn't he seen this coming?! How could he be so blind as to miss this? The signs had been everywhere and yet he was so preoccupied with his love for Natalie that it was as though he had been completely oblivious to everything else.

_Stupid!_

Maybe this was why so many demons stay away from love. From any true affection.

But he wasn't a demon. Not really. He had human morals, human blood, and a human upbringing. Sure, he had the ki of the demon fox but he _himself_ was not of demon heritage. The embryo he had stolen – the body he had taken – was human, and therefore so was his heart and mind. He would not sacrifice that. Yes, he would have to deal with painful emotions. And maybe he would make stupid mistakes like this. But he knew that he was more powerful for having his human heart.

Even so, he knew that it was no excuse for blocking out the rest of the world.

He noticed that Natalie hadn't said anything in a while and he peered over his own shoulder. The girl was looking ahead, eyes glazed over and distant. Her mind was in shock…and there wasn't a damn thing Kurama could do about it. He snarled quietly at himself and bit down on his tongue.

They all ran like that for hours. Natalie didn't so much as cough, and no one else said anything. Kurama and Yusuke were having a mental conversation (mainly Yusuke ranting about how he was going show "that little runt" what for) when the Phoenix stopped short, the wind she had created rushing past her. The guys stopped a few feet behind her and waited.

"…Why'd we stop?" asked Kuwabara after 7 minutes of standing there.

The Phoenix said nothing.

"…Don't you feel that? It's…" Yusuke's voice trailed off, not finding the right word to finish his sentence with.

"It feels…._quiet_." Kurama stepped forward to stand next to Sarah's body. Without saying anything and without looking at any of them, she put her arms straight out to the side and just…fell. About a foot before she hit the ground, she disappeared. With a look to each member on the team, Kurama followed suit with Natalie still on his back. The same thing happened to him, and everyone else followed him.

On the other side of whatever portal they had found was something that looked like the inside of a volcano, but without the boiling hot molten rock below them. The brownish-gray rock surrounding them formed several paths, caves and walls. They were completely enclosed in some underground labyrinth, and from the power emanating in the very air, they were getting close to their goal.

A demon came into view several feet ahead of them. The group stopped and waited, ready for an attack.

The demon smiled. "Do not worry. I am not here to fight. The mistress sent me to welcome you. However, you are three days early, and the mistress needs a little extra time before she can--" He was cut off as the Phoenix gripped him by the throat and held him up in the air.

"She can see us now."

To everyone's surprise, the demon chuckled when released and said "The mistress expected this sort of behavior from her daughter." He bowed. "Follow me."

We did. The Phoenix led the way after the demon servant. Natalie lagged behind with Kurama a bit.

"Where are we?"

"To be honest…I'm uncertain. This isn't a part of the Makai…at least, I don't think it is. I've never been here before. The energy is completely different."

"Then why is a demon here?"

"Probably a captive servant," Kurama suggested.

"Oh…are we in danger?"

"…I don't know. It all depends on exactly what this woman wants. She may let us go, or she may not." Seeing the look on his mate's face, he added "I will keep you safe." Natalie seemed unconvinced…

Meanwhile, Hiei simply followed, staring at the back of the Phoenix's head, unable to care about anything that was happening. Yusuke was eyeing his surroundings, trying to figure out where they were and exactly what they needed to expect. Kuwabara was studying the servant. The Phoenix stared straight ahead.

After they had walked for about 10 minutes, taking rights and lefts and secret passages and trap doors, they arrived at a large room….a _very_ large room. This room alone was at least three times as big as Genkai's entire temple, and 4 times as high. At the other end of it, they saw a regal, beautiful, enchanting woman clothed in gold and crimson on a modest, cushioned throne. As they drew nearer, they saw that she had long, black hair, soft, white skin, and a tall, full figure. Her face, though…her face was the mirror image of Sarah's. The only difference was the pair of cold, piercing golden eyes leering down at them from behind long, elegant lashes. Other than her eyes and almost glowing skin, though, she looked perfectly human.

Hiei's eyes darkened as he searched the room, finding it void of any trace of his sister.

Once the woman's gaze caught the Phoenix's, she stood and walked slowly over. It looked as though she was examining the younger girl…and she was. She leaned in close, grabbed the younger girl's chin, and said "Let me speak to her."

"…"

"Let me speak to my daughter. Now."

And something happened. The Phoenix grimaced in pain.

***

_I watched through my own captured eyes as the beautiful woman walked up to me and looked me up and down. She grabbed my chin and said _"Let me speak to her."

"_YES!! LET ME OUT!"_

_She bored into me with her eyes. "_Let me speak to my daughter. Now."

_I screamed in rage and desperation, looking for a way out. It was now or never. I had to get out…I had to…_

_I threw my pain out and forced it into the Phoenix's body. My body. What _should_ be my body. And I felt myself rise, as if being lifted out of a hole in the ground. And suddenly…_

***

They all watched as the Phoenix stopped twitching in pain and looked silently at the queen-like lady. The older woman's look softened.

"Welcome home, my love."

The daughter stood still, staring straight into the woman's eyes. "…You tried to kill me." Everyone gawked at the speaker, whose eyes now shown with emotion, a dark, stormy blue. "They told me so. You tried to kill me when you found out I had the Phoenix in me." There was no mistaking it. That was Sarah's voice. Hiei took a step forward, but was held back by the redhead.

The woman looked startled at the accusation. "I never! How could you-…I never did such a thing…I couldn't!"

Seeing this powerful creature flustered was more than a little unnerving for everyone, but not as much as the tears now developing in her golden eyes.

"King Yama certainly thinks you did," said Sarah, voice choking with harsh emotion.

"King Yama is a power-hungry old fool who has never been able to keep his stories straight!"

"Then why did my father take me to a different dimens-"

"_Your father _stole _you from me!"_ the woman seethed.

Everyone was silent, unsure of what to think, waiting for what would happen next.

The woman took a breath and closed her eyes, waiting until she was calm. Then, she began again.

"Your father…he wanted your power. He stole you…told me he wanted to take you to see his parents. You were human, I was not. I couldn't follow into your world…my power comes at that price. He knew that once he was there, I wouldn't be able to protect you myself. But the second I discovered his real plan…to kill you and steal the power…I sent Zuro to protect you. He poisoned your father after hiding you, but when he returned, you had been taken in by a human adoption agency and had found a family. Zuro figured you'd be safer in that world…and I agreed. Nothing but simple humans in it. But I had him keep an eye on you, protect you when necessary. But there were some things he couldn't protect you from…I saw through his eyes whenever you had a premonition. Saw the pain and the hopelessness and desperation…it killed me every time. I hated it. But you must understand. Even though I couldn't be a true part of your life, I truly do love you…please believe me. Please…"

"…I…..I don't know that I can. I just….I just don't know. Not yet…I need to know more. Need more time…and who exactly is Zuro?"

"He is a blue fox demon…your friend killed him a few weeks ago."

Everyone turned to Natalie, who was wide-eyed with mouth agape. "I didn't…I swear I…I didn't know…He was attacking us!"

"Attacking you?! I saw the whole thing! That purple-haired samurai attacked him without provocation and Yuri protected himself. His orders were to track you down and _escort_ you here. _Alone_."

Natalie looked dumbstruck. "But…he looked…he killed Shishi."

"What would you have done if someone had tried to kill you?!" The beautiful woman had such a tone of disgust that she truly sounded as though she were scolding a child…not at all like she'd just lost a precious comrade.

I stepped forward. "You don't seem too upset by the fact that he's dead…you just seem annoyed that Natalie isn't agreeing with you." She just looked at me.

"…Forgive me if I don't show grief the same way your kind does. Make no mistake, Zuro was family and a dear friend and servant."

"Then show it." I felt little sympathy for her. "Why didn't he just TELL us that he wanted to take me alive?!"

"YOU DIDN'T GIVE HIM THE CHANCE! That idiot just started slashing!"

I grimaced and clenched my hands. So we had killed a man who meant no harm. Yes, he killed Shishi, but he wouldn't have if Shishi hadn't made the first move.

"….He called me Meeha…is that my real name?"

"Yes...I named you after myself. My real name, that is. The name I am known by, however, is Charia."

So at least we knew that, now.

This entire time, I'd been fighting to keep my mind from being penetrated. I knew who it was, but I didn't want to talk to him until I could do so face to face. "Charia, then…why did you kidnap Yukina? Doesn't exactly seem like an innocent move."

"Simply an extra precaution. She has been treated with respect and is living peacefully and happily in our aviary. You probably noticed that I used special protections."

"The same kind her first kidnapper used. Why would you implement those if you wanted us to find you?"

Charia sighed. "We used them for her _protection_. Even here, she is a high-quality target for the greedier demons."

It all made sense…surprisingly enough, it made sense to me. I had never even considered that my mother wouldn't be the enemy…that my father was. And yet, everything she was saying worked. But…

"Then why did you want me here so badly? Badly enough to kidnap someone, send all kinds of messengers, and threaten people. You sent such a horrible message…you threatened to kill Yukina if I was late. Would you have done it?"

"Of course. I do not go back on my word."

This shook me. She said this with such nonchalance…I heard Hiei snarl behind me, his mind still trying to get through to mine.

"…How? How could you be willing to kill an innocent young girl for something as petty as tardiness?..."

"Meeha…("My name is Sarah. Not Meeha.") When you have been alive as long as I have, lives do not hold nearly as much importance as they do when you are young. Even my own life means little to me anymore. But I have not even reached my middle-aged years yet, and I cannot be killed."

"What do you mean you cannot be kille-?"

"You have all come a long way. I'm sure that the humans at the very least are exhausted. You'll find rooms have already been set up for each of you. Knab will take you there." As she said this, the servant entered the room again and led the group out. I started to follow, again trying to get to Hiei, but Meeha…er…Charia...stopped me again. "I'd like to have a word with you alone…it's been so long. I want to know more. I've seen everything that's happened in your world, but I couldn't keep an eye on you in this world, ironically."

"But--"

"Now, now, you'll be able to catch up with your friends later. But right now, I'd really like some quality time with my only daughter…"

I could only oblige.

***

Hiei was absolutely seething. Why hadn't she let him in?! And what the hell was wrong with that woman?! But he couldn't think about that anymore. He had to find Yukina. The talismans would still block her from his Eye, but he could smell her this time. The others were still following the servant to their rooms. He told Kurama what he was doing and left, not wanting the oaf to follow him.

He set off, retracing his steps until he was back at the large doors where Sarah and her mother still were. His sensitive ears caught a snippet of conversation as he passed. Sarah was yelling, but soon went silent…

He fought the urge to stay and see what was happening. He absolutely had to find Yukina as soon as possible. Soon, he heard the distantly raucous sound of hundreds or thousands of birds chirping and followed that, remembering what the woman had said.

There it was. The aviary. And sitting serenely in the middle of a small cloud of birds was his sister. She was okay. And she looked happy…that was all he needed to know.

He turned to go back to the group, but—

"Hiei?"

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**Hmmm...whyever did I leave off here?! Could it be....could it be that Hiei's secret will be revealed to Yukina in the next chapter??? OH NO! And what's going on between Sarah and her mother at the moment?...Scary to think about, no?**

**Well, the more reviews I get, the sooner the next chapter will come up! Let's say...10 reviews minimum? **

**Til next time! 3**


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